Innovation
by King-Vyse
Summary: Desmond is attending Auditore Academy against his father's orders to chase after the girl he likes. When he arrives, he is faced with a large penalty for his action. Eventual YAOI... ALEXxDESMOND
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter I: Alternation_

The dull ring of the bell symbolized it was time for the next period. Desmond sighed swiftly as he tested the muscles in his right hand. Good. It can still move. He complained in his head and asked himself why his history teacher loved to make him and his classmates copy so many notes under such a limited amount of time. Of course he told Desmond and the others what to write, but it was usually one-half a pages worth writing. Desmond reminded himself that it honestly wasn't so bad and it would be worse in his later years, but this was the present; he could care less about what happened in the future at the moment. All he cared about was what was happening to his hand _right now._

"Hey, Desmond! Wait for me!" Desmond was just about to head out the door until the voice of a friend had stopped him. "Come on, you know we have Computer Tech. class next together so why can't you remember to stay and walk with me for a bit?"

"Sorry Rebecca," Desmond shrugged as she caught up with him and proceeded out into the crowded hallway. "I just get impatient and can't wait to get out of that class. I always end up trying to haul my ass out of there, you know?"

"Haha, alright I forgive you," she slapped Desmond's back. "But if you do it again, I'm gonna make you buy me my lunch!" Desmond laughed uncomfortably; he barely had enough money to buy food for himself. How does she expect him to buy her lunch as well? Rebecca caught on to his uneasiness. "Hey hey, I was just joking. You really don't have to get me lunch. I know you're on a tight budget, bro," she said as she adjusted her side-bag.

"Thanks," Desmond said with relief. They arrived at their Computer Tech. class and took their usual seats sitting next to each other on the far right of the room. Desmond wrinkled his nose; he still wasn't used to the stale and stuffy air that was always floating around in his classroom. He shook it off and took his seat on his swivel chair.

"Hey Des," Rebecca started as she turned on her desktop. "I just don't get it. Your family is rich and had a fairly good grip on some power. Why aren't they helping you out with your economic troubles? I mean, you pretty much don't need to be working at that bar." Desmond was about to explain to his close friend, but was interrupted before he could say a word.

"Rebecca, honestly, how many times have you asked him this question already? I'm pretty sure he explained the situation to you about, say, a week ago?"

"I told you already Shaun! I still don't understand it! There's too much stuff to wrap my head around," Rebecca said, sinking into her chair. Desmond looked up from his computer screen to a man with lopsided spiked hair and black framed square glasses. He gave a swift nod at him and was returned with a short wave.

"Well it's not as complicating as you really think 'Becky,'" Shaun continued the conversation.

"Hey! I told you to lay off the nicknames, asshole!"

"Oh right, yeah my apologies 'Becky,' I forgot you hated being called that," Shaun said with a sarcastic shrug. "Though at least I _do _remember why Desmond is so willing to work three days a week at night in Bad Weather and live in a decent condo in the dorms than live in his relative's overly luxurious mansion. Though I'm afraid that if I try to explain it, you won't be able to understand what I'm trying to get at and complain about it again in a few minutes."

"Ass! I know why he has to live alone and I know he's working at Bad Weather only to support himself, but that cheap joint only gives him so much cash! What _I _want to know is why his oh-so powerful relatives aren't trying to help him out!" Rebecca slammed her hands on the desk and gave Shaun an icy glare.

"If you three are finished, I'd like to begin class? Please, take your seats now Ms. Crane. You too, Mr. Hastings," the teacher called at the head of the classroom.

"Sorry sir," Rebecca said as she plopped down into her plush chair and shrunk behind her computer screen. Desmond nudged her under the table with his foot.

"Don't worry about me," Desmond whispered. "I can manage my own." Rebecca looked back at him with a worried smile.

* * *

><p>The day passed on as a blur to Desmond, as he reluctantly dressed for his Phys. Ed class. He had tried to enjoy his previous classes, such as his art class with Mr. da Vinci since the man was such a laid back teacher, and also he had his art class with Lucy.<p>

Lucy Stillman. Lovely red lips, soft pink cheeks, and beautiful golden blonde hair that Desmond had the luxury of seeing down today and not in her signature bun. Desmond couldn't help but day dream about the smile she presented him with as he sat next to her in art class. He'd started to reminisce the days before when he and Lucy had shared their days training together, with Desmond's father as their teacher.

They'd met when Desmond was only six, just a few months after his training had begun with his father and the other children of Black Hills. She was introduced to the group as the other children were; she was born into the Assassin's Order as they were, and she was to start her training along with them as of that day. She was an amazing student, Desmond recalled. He even remembered that she was able to surpass Desmond a few times. He started to admire her at some point, seeing that she excelled in her training and had never lost in any sparring sessions with the other girls; she was even able to trip up a few boys, if Desmond's father allowed the friendly fight to progress. Desmond also believed that because of her amazing progress she had become an outcast. The other girls had begun to call her a suck-up to the teacher and said that she was always trying to grab his attention. The boys had done no ways of confrontational bullying, but they had still refused to talk to her. This went on for three weeks, until Desmond decided to do something about it himself. He wondered why she hadn't fought back against any of the other kids and why she had stayed quiet when the other girls were spouting things that even Desmond himself knew wasn't true. He'd stayed by her and encouraged her; she didn't need pity, Desmond realized. She didn't need someone to tell her that the others didn't know what they were talking about. She needed someone who would tell her that she was doing just fine and she should just keep being herself.

At first, she was reluctant to even look at Desmond when he first introduced himself to her. As time went on, she slowly pulled down her wall of solitude and began speaking her mind to Desmond. She began to trust him and was able to always look for him when she needed someone to say that she was better than all of them. She was never over confident; she was quite the opposite. It didn't take much to knock her down. Desmond always found himself needing to smile around Lucy since she had almost always worn a frown. Whenever she was brought down upon by her peers, he always told her that there was no time to be sulking around; there was only time to train. Although Desmond was usually worn out after a day's training with his father and the others, he'd always try to muster up some energy to pick Lucy up from her dark corner and drag her to the advanced training area and practice his parkour along with her, giving her words of encouragement until the both of them weren't able to lift themselves off the ground. They may have been dead tired, but Desmond found it better to have Lucy complain to him how her legs were aching than to see her distraught and not speak a word to him at all.

It wasn't until Lucy was suggested by Desmond's father to go train in the Auditore Academy in New York that he'd realized his feeling for her. He hadn't heard of the Auditore Academy until then; he'd only known his relatives held the name, but he didn't know anything about them.

But that didn't stop him. He didn't care how far Lucy was going, he wanted to follow her. His level of parkour was just as good as hers, due to all those nights of extra training. He probably wasn't as quick as she was, but Desmond knew he was just as skilled. The day Lucy was recommended for the Auditore Academy was the same night Desmond nearly begged his father to go to New York also. His father refused. He warned Desmond that their level of training in the Auditore Academy was far more difficult than the training process they had here at Black Hills. He argued with his father that he would be able to take it. He was strong enough and he was skilled enough to tackle on whatever they had presented him. His father had not said a word, only telling him that the conversation was over, and hinted off to Desmond that he was still reluctant to agree to the idea.

Lucy agreed to move to and attending the Auditore Academy the next morning, and in two days, she would board her plane that was a one-way flight to New York. Desmond remembered being frustrated with himself and with his father. Without a second thought, he packed his necessities, and ran away to New York.

It was a long trip; a long battle, really. His father apparently put the word out and Assassin's were tracking him down left and right. He was glad his side training with Lucy was put to good use. Eventually, he'd made it to New York, only to be caught by the one and only assassin known as Malik. Malik had found him sleeping up in some tree in the park at night. He actually didn't know anything about Desmond running away from his home in Black Hills until he had asked for his name. Malik couldn't believe that this kid had made his way all the way to New York looking like he did. He was certainly disheveled to a terrible extent. He had not said a word to Desmond as he told him to quickly follow behind him. Desmond reluctantly agreed, realizing there was no use in running now; he was tired, hungry, and he didn't know his way around New York. He'd be found again eventually if not sooner. Desmond kept his head down as he followed the brisk walking pace of Malik. Without knowing, he was suddenly standing in the Chairman's office of the Auditore Academy. Malik explained the situation to the two men who were discussing something before they had arrived. The man behind the desk had suddenly stood up and circled around nervous Desmond. He stopped and stood right in front of him, then placed his hands on Desmond's shoulders, holding a wide smile.

"Welcome _Bambino_! I understand you've come a long way," he patted Desmond's shoulders. "My name is Ezio Auditore da Firenze. I am one of the chairmen of this school. The man there is Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad; he is the other chairman."

"H-Hello," Desmond was surprised. He definitely didn't expect this. "May I ask? Who are you, exactly? I know you're a relative of mine but—"

"Ah, I'm your great grandfather, _Bambino!" _

"'G-Great grandfather?" Desmond was confused. The man didn't look a day older than twenty-seven.

"And that man over there—" Ezio pointed to Altaïr as he wrapped his arm around Desmond's shoulders. "—is actually your great _great_ grandfather," Ezio said with a grin. Desmond could feel his mouth go slack-jawed. Ezio began to explain the reasons of why he had started this academy as if Desmond had wanted to know from the beginning. He explained the school is actually an underground training facility is for potential Assassins of the Order. Of course, there had been times when Templar spies had tried to pretend they'd just wanted to join the school because of the amazing reputation it had, but they were able to be rooted out in a matter of days.

"…I'm sure you've come to New York for a reason, yes Desmond?" Ezio suddenly turned stern. Desmond gulped as his hands suddenly went cold. "I'm not going to ask why, for I'm sure it is a good reason, seeing as how you've come all the way here from Black Hills against your father's orders," Ezio said with hands up in defense and a gentle smile on his face. "So I'm allowing you to stay here in the Academy. I'll explain everything to your father myself." Desmond nearly jumped for joy. He was able to stay by Lucy! Finally! "But," Desmond's smile faded. "There is a certain fee you must pay to enter."

"Pay?" Desmond raised an eyebrow at the thought. He knew this was too easy. Ezio nodded.

"Yes, pay. The school fee, _Bambino._ You are my great grandson yes, but I cannot allow you to join unconditionally," Ezio explained. Desmond sunk into his chair. Pay? How could he pay off the school fees? He was flat broke, and he doubted his father would give him any pity money.

"You don't have to pay it all at once," Ezio said quickly. "You can pay it in portions. Think of this as a slight punishment for going against your father," Ezio suddenly smiled again. "Trust me, you should be glad. We could've just sent you back to Black Hills without even listening to what you have to say."

"H-how much is the fee…?" Desmond hesitantly asked. There was a heavy pause in the room before anyone had said a word.

"$600,000 for the regular school fee. Added with the Assassin's training, the total is $950,000." Desmond's eyes widened. He began to panic.

"I-I don't know if…I won't be able to…I can't…!"

"Calm down, Desmond! I told you, you don't have to pay all of it right away!"

"But…that's nearly a million dollars!"

"Yes and this academy is expensive to run! Training rooms, weapons, VR rooms, parkour obstacles, and not to mention a _large _medical facility! And on top of all that, we need to tend to the typical needs of all the students, assassins or not. Food, bed sheets and blankets, text books, the right technology, sports equipment, everything is needed," Ezio shot a glare back at Desmond. It was scary to suddenly see this man so menacing. Ezio sighed as he readjusted himself into his large chair.

"It does seem nearly impossible to pay off, but trust me, you'll be able to," Altaïr suddenly spoke. "I suggest you pay off your school fee by the end of this school year, or else you'll be having some problems with next school year's fee." Desmond placed his head in his hands. He couldn't do this. "So here is my proposal: you begin your work for the Assassin's Order early."

"What?" Desmond lifted his head.

"You will still be in training, but that is what I am suggesting. You take on the role of a true assassin. You will be presented missions that you are to see out swiftly and professionally; in return you are paid. Depending on the mission will determine the amount of your pay. Playing bodyguard for a client would probably get you from four hundred to seven hundred dollars. Assassinating a high class Templar official? Your pay will be a good deal of two thousand to four thousand dollars, depending on how important the official was," Altaïr's expression from under his hood had not changed throughout from what Desmond could see. He was listening intently, determined to pay off his debt. "But, here's the interesting part. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, but we're only trying to look out for you as much as we can. You see, you might be tempted to give us all of your earnings from your mission; however these still are _your _earnings. We do not want you to not be able to have money for your own personal needs. Therefore, we will only be taking half of your pay; the other half you can use as you see fit. Now, this does mean that it may take a while to pay your debt, but I can assure you, this is the best way," Altaïr said. "Can you accept this deal?"

"I can," Desmond said, determined. Altaïr nodded.

"This is good! I will have your dorm arranged as soon as possible," Ezio burst out, suddenly brightly content once more. "As a small present from your great grandfather, I'll give you a private room, one with your own bathroom and such! Don't worry I'm not going to charge you for that," Ezio smiled as he started assigning Desmond's room. Altaïr placed a hand on Desmond's shoulder as he walked out of the office and grinned a rather devious grin.

"It is a pleasure to be working with you."

* * *

><p>"Desmond, look out!" <em>Wham! <em>He was knocked back on the ground, dazed. "Oh man, sorry Des! Are you alright?"

"Hey are you o—"

"Oh my gosh! Desmond are you—"

"Hey man, how you feel?"

"Desmond!"

"Des! What happened?"

He couldn't focus on what had just happened. He was seeing white dots all around him. He shook his head until his vision was clear. He could see his classmates crowd around him, all asking the same things. He laughed uneasily, as he tried to stand up, telling them he was okay. As he was brought to his feet, his vision suddenly when white again, and he stumbled backward.

"Whoa, buddy," Shaun had caught him. "Alright Desmond I think you should get to the nurse's office."

"No no, I'm fine," Desmond tried to shake him off.

"Um, Desmond, I don't think you've noticed but you've got a bleeding nose, and you can barely stand up by yourself. You were pretty much hit head on with a soccer ball that was gunned at you—by accident, I hope." Shaun explained to him. Now that he thought about it, his mouth had started to taste a bit metallic and warm.

"Alright fine, I'll go," Desmond said as he shook the whiteness away from his vision. "I'll go by myself."

"Are you sure? Cause you look like you can faint at any second."

"Yeah yeah, I'll be fine," Desmond said as he took off his shirt and placed it under his nose. He was glad he wore a tank top today. "Just go tell the coach I'm going, will you?"

"Yeah yeah, no yeah, don't worry about that. You just get the nurse's as quickly as possible."

"Thanks," Desmond waved as he walked off the field and made his way inside the school. He had to adjust his P.E. shirt multiple times to find a dry spot for his still bleeding nose. He was worried about himself.

"Shit, this thing just won't stop will it?" He cursed under his breath as he quickly walked through the door of the front office and up to the front desk. "Excuse me," he said behind his shirt. The attendant looked up with a light smile and watched him with large blue eyes from behind her glasses. Desmond would return the favor, but he thought about how his teeth must be covered in his nose blood right now. "Uh nosebleed," he said embarrassed. "Got hit in the face with a soccer ball."

"Oh you poor thing," she said with a genuinely concerned look. "There's a bathroom in the nurse's office right there; wash your face with cold water, get a clean paper towel and use that instead of your shirt, then lie down on the bed for a while, okay?" Desmond nodded. "You can explain to the Nurse what happened afterwards, when you're done washing your face. Don't worry, she won't mind so just take your time, honey."

"Alright, thank you ma'am," Desmond replied. She smiled at him once more. He turned around to walk to the Nurse's room, when his eye caught a glimpse of to people who were sitting down outside of Ezio and Altaïr's office. They were…sketchy. One of them was a girl. She had short, light brown hair and amazing icy blue eyes. She had her arms and legs crossed as she listened to her music through her earphones. She looked around and whistled to the tune of her music trying to find something to entertain her, occasionally glancing at the figure next to her. Dark, secluded, creepy, and sketchy…very very sketchy. The person was slumped down into their chair with their hands in the pockets of their jeans; their hood of their dark jacket covered their face, giving Desmond no chance in identifying who the person was. He watched them with a concerned look, only looking away until the girl noticed him and gave him big white friendly smile. Desmond's eyes widened, and then he quickly tried to re-catch himself. He gave a quick wave then calmly made his way past them to the nurse's office.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter II: Adequate _

Desmond thoroughly rubbed his face with icy water as the attendant had instructed. He stopped the water and watched the remains of his nose blood merge with the water in the sink. He looked up into small mirror in front of him and sighed, then he tugged out a few paper towels from beside the mirror and proceeded to press them against his nose.

"Desmond? How are you? Why don't you come out here and lie down on some of the beds," the nurse called from the other side of the restroom door. Desmond fumbled with the door handle as he shoved himself against the door. He cursed under his breath as he remembered that the door was supposed to be pulled on his side. Desmond slowly pulled the door toward him and flashed an embarrassed smile at the nurse who laughed lightly. She waved her thin hand towards one of the dark black beds that was facing away from her desk. Desmond quickly took his seat on the edge, but was corrected by the nurse just as quickly and was instructed to lie down.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Desmond said out of the blue.

"What do you mean, Desmond?" The nurse arched an eyebrow at him. "I am the school nurse; it's never a bother to help students with bleeding noses," she laughed lightly once more.

"Oh, you're right," Desmond simply said once he thought about it. "But, are you the only nurse that works here?"

"Why do you ask?"

"N-Never mind," Desmond laughed it off. He remembered the old Chairman Ezio saying they had a _huge _medical facility, but this one nurse room was only so large. If this school was an underground training facility for potential assassins, it would only be expected that many of them would get injured every once in a while. If a trainee suffered from a broken leg or ankle from parkour training, it would be unlikely that the all of the school's medical funds went all here in this tiny room. Or what if this _was_ all they had? Maybe the injuries were more frequent than Desmond had thought they were, and medical supplied were needed constantly. Maybe that's why they didn't need such a large facility; the supplies would run out as soon as they would be ready. But that would suggest that there were either many assassin trainees her at the academy, or they were all terrible at their training and just constantly kept failing their exercises. Only if the trainees were terrible, wouldn't that also mean that the exercises were too difficult? Or would it mean that the mentors here are terrible at their work?

"Desmond," the nurse's sudden firm voice brought Desmond out of one of his rare daydreams.

"Yes?"

"Forgive me for asking," Desmond sat up slowly to see the worried face of the auburn haired nurse. He realized that the runny feeling in his nose had gone, and that his paper towel had only damp faded red marks on it. He dabbed below his nose again before throwing away his crumpled mess of paper towels.

"What do you want to know?" Desmond twisted and cracked his back a couple times before leaning over and resting his hands on the edges of the bed. The nurse's uneasy look made Desmond feel defensive. It made reminded to always think three times before he answered; he didn't want important information to be spilled, regardless whoever they were. You never know when the information could be used against you someday.

"Was it…difficult? Getting here from Black Hills all by yourself?"

"Well, forgive me for being blunt, but that's pretty obvious right? Money problems, shelter, food, you know, the essentials."

"Yes, I know that," she said rather impatiently. "But I mean…" her words trailed off. Desmond sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. The nurse took a deep breath before trying again. "Those scars; I know those weren't just some random attack from random street animal." Desmond let his hand drop back down to his side. He eyed at the scars that trailed along his arm, up to his shoulder. He had more under his tank top, but he didn't feel it was necessary to show her.

"Of course it was difficult," Desmond finally spoke. "I've ran from countless assassins who were trying to hunt me down and haul my ass back to Black Hills. Barely ate, barely slept. Pretty much the whole dramatic act of trying to survive," he said as he stood up and arched his back. He picked up his dried bloody shirt from the chair that sat idly by the open door. He didn't want to continue this subject anymore.

"But, what made you so determined?" The nurse had called just before Desmond had shut the door. He paused at the sudden question, contemplating whether to answer it or not. He shook his head then quietly closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Desmond shivered as he walked out into the cold front office of the academy. How could these people tolerate such frigid temperatures? It felt like a meat locker, to be honest, and Desmond was left with nothing but a tank top and a bloodied shirt; not really ideal for keeping body heat.<p>

"Ah, Mr. Miles?" Desmond glanced to see that the attendant at the front desk was calling him. She smiled and motioned for him to come over quickly. "The Chairman actually wants to see you for a little bit. Mr. Auditore," she said quietly. "He's in a small meeting with two transfer students, but he told me to tell you to just come right in." Desmond nodded and walked around the attendant's desk, straight to the large double doors of the office of the two Chairmen. He hesitantly pressed against the door that was ajar before pulling it back and stepping inside. He groaned in his head and complained; he just wanted to go home and sleep already.

"Desmond! There you are!" Ezio stood up from his large chair. He walked up to Desmond with the same wide grin he had given him the day Desmond had first stepped into his office. Desmond gripped his shirt tightly as Ezio wrapped his arms around Desmond's shoulders. Feeling a bit uneasy, Desmond merely used his free hand to pat the back of his great grandfather before Ezio had let go; he wasn't used to such openness from others. He barely had any friends other than Lucy at Black Hills, and he didn't see much of his relatives. He'd thought they were all the same: strong, intimidating, and always expecting more out of him.

"_Merda,_ Desmond. Your shirt is covered with blood, but it doesn't look like you got hurt anywhere," Ezio said, confused. Desmond let out a shaky laugh.

"Just a nosebleed, sir. I didn't get into any fight with anyone," Desmond shrugged off Ezio's hand from his shoulder. Ezio nodded as he walked back to his desk. "Why would you suggest that? Me getting into a fight, I mean. You sound as if you'd want that," Desmond joked.

"I don't want you to get into fights, Desmond," Ezio chuckled. "Though I _do_ expect you to win." Desmond let out a hollow laugh. Of course Ezio wasn't any different than his other relatives. He has expectations of his own. "Besides, you were able to keep your fellow assassin's off your trail and I'm sure you've fought a couple of them off, judging by your—" Ezio motioned to Desmond's faint scars before Desmond was able hide his arms behind his back. "—battle scars." Desmond furrowed his eyebrows before he noticed that Ezio had company.

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting," Desmond took note that it was the same two people who were sitting outside the nurse's office from before. The girl watched Desmond with her icy blue eyes and held a friendly smile as she bobbed her leg up and down. The figure next to her now had visible features, for his hood was pushed behind his neck. He had short curly brown hair; the same color the girl had. His skin was frightfully pale, and his face held deep, stern lines under his eyes and at the bridge of his nose. What surprised Desmond the most was that he'd the same icy blue eyes that the girl had, only difference was that they were more hostile; he was certainly more intimidating than Altaïr.

"Not at all," Ezio spoke in a more up-beat voice. "Desmond, this is Alex and Dana Mercer. They've transferred here just today under personal circumstances." Desmond nodded toward them and Dana had returned the act with a light wave. "Actually Desmond, I was thinking that since you are still new to the academy that it would be great if you could help Alex around the school. You two would be able to explore with each other."

"I'm sorry, but wouldn't it be better if he'd be accompanied by someone who actually _knows _their way around school? It's only my fifth day here and I'm still getting lost, to be honest," Desmond tried to make it sound as honest as possible; he didn't want them to get the wrong idea and think that he just didn't want to put up with this.

"Nonsense, _Bambino. _I'm sure that you and Alex will become good friends by helping each other around the academy," Ezio grinned. Desmond winced at the idea. Not only was Desmond unsure of his way around the school, he felt absolutely _terrified _around this kid. He barely even knows who Alex is, but he had the coldest feeling that if Desmond ever turned his back on him, he would be chopped to pieces and be shoved under the floorboards…alright, maybe that was only him being paranoid, but it still didn't ease the fact that Alex felt like a looming cloud of death over Desmond's head.

"Don't worry, Alex won't hurt you," Dana spoke up, matching Ezio's smile. "Isn't that right Alex?" She tried to nudge Alex with her elbow, but he scooted away before she could. She let out a small sigh, before turning back to Desmond. "My brother is a bit anti-social, but I can assure you he's not a bad guy once you get to know him. I mean yeah, he's been in a couple of fights in our last school, but I'm sure a guy like you can keep my brother out of trouble, right?" Alex cleared his throat in response when Desmond eyed him curiously before turning his head. Alex dug his nails into the arms of his chair; he was noticeably unnerved at the conversation. Desmond questioned it for a second, and then understood.

"Wait, you guys make it sound like he needs to be babysat or something," Desmond suddenly said. Ezio, Dana, and Alex briefly exclaimed their shock with their wide eyes before speaking again.

"No, it's not like that _Bambino, _we just think that it would make Alex feel…more comfortable perhaps."

"Yeah, it'll save him from having to make a friend the traditional way," Dana followed up. Desmond shook his head. He looked at Alex to see where he stood on this matter.

"Tch," he snorted as he averted Desmond's gaze once more. A long pause had passed.

"Well, if Alex is showing no opposition, then I'd say this deal is done," Ezio clasped his hands together triumphantly. "Desmond, you'll be showing Alex around the campus, making sure he doesn't get lost, and showing him to his classes."

"W-Wait a minute, I didn't say I agreed to this in the first pla—"

"_And _you'll make sure he stays out of trouble. I'd say Alex should feel fine after a few weeks in the academy, so I'll have you watch over him for about a month in a half or so."

"Wait I said!"

"Here is Alex's schedule so you'll know where his classes are and you'll be able to point him in the right direction if he gets lost. Make sure you show him the where the restrooms are and where you can and cannot have you lunch…I guess before that you'd have to show him where the cafeteria is. You two have almost all your classes together so it should be easy for you to—"

"Goddammit, I said listen to me!" Desmond slammed his hands on Ezio's desk in front of him. Ezio looked up at Desmond, his face suddenly stern. Desmond quickly faltered, relieving his hands from the large desk and took a few steps back. "L-Look, I know you said it's not, but I feel like you really are trying to make me babysit him. The way you're stressing this out sir…it sounds all too controlling if you ask me. Why are you so concerned over his actions?" Ezio didn't bother to break his gaze. His eyes softened as he leaned back into his large chair.

"Desmond, you're just overreacting. I can assure you that I just want my newest students to feel comfortable in their new school. I just thought it would be a good idea for you to all help each other. Understand?" Ezio flashed a small smile. Desmond narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows as Ezio made a quick motion for Desmond to come behind his desk.

"Closer," Ezio waved at him. He leaned down close to the man, placing his hands on his knees as Ezio talked behind him near his ear. Ezio whispered ever so quietly. "This is an important job, _Bambino._ Trust me. If you go through with the whole month and a half without any problems from Alex, then I'll reward you with money, half of which will obviously go to your debt, but it is a job regardless. If I hear any problems from him, I'll have to extend the duration of your time watching over him, understand? I will talk in detail later." Desmond drew back and stood straight on his feet again with his narrow eyes peering down at the seemingly cheerful chairman. For a second, Desmond wondered how much money his great grandfather was going to pay him, but then shook the thought out of his head. It didn't matter how much money he was giving him, as long as he was making progress with his debt to the school. He'd have to accept as many jobs from Ezio as he can at the moment to get a good grasp on things.

"…Fine," it barely came out as a mutter as he crossed his arms in defeat. Ezio nodded in approval as he slid Alex's schedule in front of Desmond. The man was right; Alex had five out of six of his classes (not counting the assassin training that has yet to begin). Desmond studied the bright salmon colored paper before looked back up at Alex. His hood was pulled over his head once again, letting a shadow fall over his cold blue eyes.

"Alex, this is Desmond's room and floor number if you ever need anything from him," Ezio handed him a small index card that had the numbers "987" and "4" scribbled on it. Alex quickly swiped the card from the man and shoved it into his pant pocket. Ezio began explaining the procedures of the dorm rooms to the Mercer siblings before he turned back to Desmond.

"Since the school day is nearly finished, I guess you can show Alex to the boy's dormitory. Alex's room is on the floor below yours; it is the size of the regular dormitories but is a single inhabitant only room, so Alex should feel comfortable." Desmond twitched at the word. _Comfortable. _How many times had the man said that that already? Desmond felt like they were having him take care of some kind of wild animal…or monster.

* * *

><p>Desmond walked fairly quickly down the halls of the strangely quiet boy's dormitory. He held his P.E. uniform in his hands and tugged at his uncomfortable sweater. He needed a hot bath, and soon. If he didn't take one, he'd have trouble taking his nap later on. He glanced over his shoulder for a quick check. Alex was swiftly and quietly following Desmond down the halls with his head down looking at the floor. His hands were balled up into fists so tight that his knuckles had a ghastly white glow to it. Desmond veered toward a door that was labeled "856" and swiped the card key provided by Ezio. He pushed against the heavy redwood colored door and showed a guiding hand to Alex. Alex swiftly walked passed him and entered the plain square room.<p>

* * *

><p>...To be continued in Chapter III<p>

Strider's babbles: Bwaaaaaah. Where am I going with this story? 'tis a secret o3o See, the problem I have with writing is that I always come up with an awesome scene that usually happens somewhere along the middle of the story, and I think "Oh this is perfect! This is going to be the greatest story I've ever thought of! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" And then, I don't know how to make the story lead up to that certain part. OTL But! I'm getting better, as well as my doodling is improving so we'll see how the story progresses together! ^^ I hope you'll all stick around to see how my stories advance in technique!


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter III _

"…So if you need anything else, you know where to find me," Desmond shifted his feet uncomfortably. Alex stayed silent. "Though you can't come up during 'lights-out'…I'm pretty sure you knew that already… Uh, you _do_ know when 'lights-out' is, right? Oh, well duh…the Chairman must've explained that to you and your sister before we left," he rambled. "Your stuff should be coming up soon so don't worry about those…" Alex looked up from the floor, but Desmond quickly avoided eye contact. "…Uh, you must've already known that too." Alex eyed Desmond throughout a grand pause. He noticed Desmond was always looking around the room, forcing his eyes to wander; never really searching for anything. Alex smirked under his hood once Desmond had made accidental eye contact and jumped. The guy was scared of him. Good. He should be.

"Alright I'll uh, take my leave I guess," Desmond finally said. He fast-walked his way toward the door, then bounced back against it. Desmond heard a small chuckle from behind him. He could feel his face burn slightly from embarrassment. _Dammit, _he'd thought. _I fucking did it again. _He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He twisted the door handle and pulled back the heavy door. Alex couldn't help but shake his head. That kid is going to have some serious problems fitting in. Sure, he might make a few friends, but it's possible they may end up ditching him.

The door clicked closed, and Alex was finally alone.

He dropped his hood and rolled his neck as he surveyed his dorm. "Simple" was the only word he could think of to describe it. It was an average square sized room with bleach white walls, and one body-sized push-up window. The velvet red curtains lay heavy at the edges of the window frame, occasionally flowing from the breeze that traveled inside. East from the window sat a queen sized bed with equal red sheets that matched the curtains. Parallel to the bed on the west wall stood a tall empty study desk with small shelves and cabinets that held CDs or books; it also had a small lamp for the writing area below it. Finally, to the left of his desk were two full-sized mirrors that slid to the side revealing an empty closet.

Alex rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. It was only an hour and a half before curfew; he had time. He unlocked his window and hung on the edge as he bit his lower lip; he was starving. It was time for a fun night out in the city.

* * *

><p>Desmond rubbed his face dry as he stepped out of his bathroom. He slipped on a rather tight black tank-top just before his cellphone rang on his desk. He picked up his earpiece and slipped it in his ear and clicked the call button.<p>

"Hello," he said in a monotone voice as he zipped up a white sleeveless hoodie just below his collar bone and swung his head under his over shoulder bag. He could hear Ezio's voice from the other end.

"Desmond, how are you?" Ezio greeted cheerfully. Desmond raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…well considering how nothing had really changed in the past hour and a half I last saw you…" Desmond replied. Ezio's booming laugh rumbled through Desmond's ears.

"I suppose you're right," he said as he calmed down. "So, about the new transfers today," Ezio paused. "What do you think about them?" Desmond slipped on a pair of socks and shoved his feet in his only pair of red chucks. He adjusted the stretched part of his grey sweatpants over his ankles before speaking.

"Well," Desmond said as he quietly closed the door behind him. He made sure he had his cardkey to his dorm before he walked down the hall to the stairs. "What do you want me to say about them?"

"Just your honest opinion," Ezio merely said. Desmond could imagine the carefree smile on Ezio's face as he made his way down to the ground floor of the boy's dormitory.

"I guess they're okay?"

"'Okay?' You sound unsure, _Bambino,_" Ezio chuckled.

"Y-yeah, well…! I don't know, I mean I'm…" Desmond quieted his voice in realization that he was nearly yelling. He sighed before saying anything else. "Dana, she was fine; she _seemed _fine at least."

"But…?"

"But it's that Alex guy I'm worried about. Honestly, what were you thinking? Letting someone like him into the school?"

"Alex is no more than just a student transferring to receive better education, as is Dana," Altaïr's voice suddenly spoke.

"Uh I'm sorry, sir. He's just a bit…strange," Desmond tried to put it in the most subtle way possible. He slipped his cellphone in the pocket of his sweats, then pulled out a single glove. He pouted shortly before slipping it onto his right hand; he was disappointed that he'd lost the other pair on his journey from Black Hills. "I'm pretty sure Ezio had the same vibes from Alex when he first walked into the office."

"True, but Ezio is usually always like that when a supposedly intimidating person arrives," Altaïr merely said. Desmond could hear the two men arguing over the phone and sighed. "…Of course you are fearless. Why, you were obviously not a nervous wreck around Malik the first time you met him. …That's right, I thought so." And with that, Desmond could tell that Altaïr had won the little spat. "Anyway, the reason we're having you keep an eye on him for a while is because he'd cause a couple of problems at his last school. Yes, they were so bad that we have to assign caretaker to him. We hope you don't see this as an unnecessary roadblock; the job is a job. The reward will be about $60,000. Of course we will be taking half."

"What did he do exactly for him to be expelled and need to be watched over at his new school?"

"Unfortunately those are questions I cannot explain. It may be a personal matter that Alex doesn't want anyone to know. If you're still curious, you can ask him yourself, if you'd like," Altaïr suggested. Desmond's lip twitched at the thought. If it _was _as sensitive subject to Alex, then it might be best if Desmond left it alone and just followed through with his orders.

"So I just have to keep the kid out of any funny business? No fights, no arguments with the teachers, obey all school rules, that kind of stuff?"

"Precisely," Altaïr reassured.

Desmond embraced the cool air as he stepped out onto the grass in front of the boy's dormitory. The air wasn't as fresh as it was at Black Hills, but it was just as sweet. He pulled his hood over his head before he made his way out to the entrance gates. Desmond pressed against his earpiece.

"Oh, I'll be going out for a while. I'm going to be working at Bad Weather for a while, then I'm going exploring."

"Exploring? What for?" Ezio's voice came back on.

"To get a better feel for the new grounds I'm on. I guess better wording for it would be 'synchronizing my map' so to speak," Desmond laughed slightly.

"…Wait, I don't get it," Ezio said. Altaïr had broken the awkward silence between them.

"Alright, we understand. Just be back before midnight," Altaïr ordered.

"Yes sir."

* * *

><p>The cool air burned in his throat as he took a deep breath. He was satisfied with his catch tonight; a few out-casts were easily swiped up from alleys and were dealt with easily. The latest disguise he had was some high end looking man with slicked back blond hair and wrapped up in some dark trench coat. He preferred clothing that didn't really trip him up while he was running, but nonetheless, a disguise was a disguise.<p>

"I still have a good handful of time left before curfew," Alex spoke to himself. "Maybe I could cause a bit of trouble for a while?" He adjusted his hood before setting off to the streets.

"Ngh!" A short grunt came from above, followed by small grains of dirt that fell atop Alex's head. He quickly brushed them off and peered up into the looming buildings. He caught a glimpse of a shadow struggling slightly before hoisting itself up onto the rooftop. Curious, Alex arched his back before running himself straight into the building in front of him. Halfway up, he caught the edge of a window frame. Biomass raged on the edges of his fingertips and around his arms as he clung to the side of the building. He always found this perk of having biomass simply useless, seeing as how he was able to just run up walls with ease. He didn't see how being able to climb up walls could possibly be useful. Until now that is. It was perfect for sneaking, though it would be better if the raging biomass wouldn't rip off chunks of the wall as he progressed upward.

He clung to the crumbling edge of the building as he peered above the rim. The shadowed figure stood over the ledge parallel from Alex. Alex climbed over his ledge and quietly hid behind a large air conditioner as the figure re-adjusted himself. Alex let himself scan over the figure, taking small peaks and occasionally hiding behind the conditioner again.

"Ahh…" the figure let out a gasp as he shook off his white hood. Small faint puffs escaped his mouth as he breathed in the chilly air all too deeply, for he began to choke a little. He let out a small shudder, then a quick laugh; the man seemed to be enjoying…whatever he was doing.

Alex peered through the darkness to try and catch a glimpse of the man's face before he decided to raise his hood once more. For a second, he questioned himself why he was taking such interest into such a stranger. Why was he? What the hell was he doing, hiding here, hoping not to be seen, acting like he was _afraid of the consequences_. He snorted as he began to rise from his hiding place. This man was just the same as every other human—mindless food. All of which are scattered around Ney York to Alex's convenience because hey, what is anyone going to do about it? And besides, he'd much rather have this man's appearance as a disguise than ol' Slick he's got on hold over here.

As he took his first few steps from his hiding place, the sound of knives cutting through air had whizzed past him before he could even realize his biomass appear before him to stop the oncoming attack. The knives hit against his armor with a dull thud and clamored against each other on the ground, ringing into Alex's ears. He could feel the biomass surround his body…pulsating…like it was alive. He looked up into the eyes of the man before him behind his biomass armor; the man's eyes shined a bright white with a mix of light blue as his wide brows furrowed above. He quickly tugged his hood over his head, letting his glowing eyes become more distinct. He turned around and took a leap off the edge, spreading his arms as he fell. Alex's biomass retreated as he hurried to where the man once stood, looking over the edge of the building, only to see the shadow leaping from flag pole to window and from banner to the next building over. Intrigued from familiar face he saw, Alex decided to play hide-and-go-seek.

* * *

><p>Desmond splashed his face with cold water once he arrived at Bad Weather. The world around his was blue, and the people around him faintly glowed an identical color. His hands matched the color scheme, as well as his body as he looked up into the mirror in front of him; the only thing different were his eyes, which shined a blinding bright white in his vision. He vigorously shook his head and washed his face once more until the blue scenery faded away. He dried himself off with a couple of paper towels before he set back out into the bar.<p>

As he stuffed his belongings into his employee locker, he found himself drifting off, remembering his recent confrontation. It was only so long ago, which was making is difficult for Desmond to focus.

"What the hell was a creepy guy standing in a black armor looking suit doing up on a rooftop?" He'd ask himself. The figure emitted a menacing bright red color the last Desmond had seen him; he'd have to make sure not to run into him again…though would a man like that really be following him around? Desmond still couldn't get over the enigmatic figure's costume. He groaned as he slowly shut the door of his locker and made his way into Bad Weather. He re-adjusted his earpiece as he stepped behind the counter and tied up his apron. With not many customers in the building, he was left with dish washing work. The dishwashers themselves too long and in the time it takes to clean everything, the whole sink above the dishwasher would be filled to the rim. He rinsed then lightly scrubbed the small espresso cups with the yellow side of the sponge, rinsed once more, then placed gently in the empty sink beside him. He repeated this procedure and took his time, for he was sure that no one was really in a rush to grab and espresso at this time of night. As he washed the last set of cups, he quickly and quietly took note on the remaining customers in the coffee-house. About three people; a couple, spending their time in the quiet night having a light conversation in the furthest corner of the building, and a young woman sitting near the entrance with her knees up to her chest, pencil in hand and a sketchbook in her lap while she tapped her pencil to the beat of the music coming from her earphones as she contemplated on what her next masterpiece should be. …Hang on, make that four customers.

Desmond dried his hands as he noticed the tall man briskly walked inside and took his seat straight across from the Desmond. His eye twitched slightly as the sight of the man's apparel. His hands were folded together as he rested his elbows on the table top. His hair was slathered in so much hair gel, it nearly made Desmond sick. Not only that, nothing says "hi, I'm a creepy man who might stab you in a corner when we're alone and leave you to bleed out in an alley" like wearing a large leather black trench coat that flowed around your ankles. Desmond continued to clean up the area around the sink, wiping any splashes and soap suds that escaped the sink, but he couldn't help but feel bother by a sharp cold feeling that stabbed at his back. He let out a small grumble as he peered over his shoulder back at the man. Sure enough when their eyes met, Desmond quickly spun back around, letting the blood rush to his face. A small chuckle caused him to turn around all too soon, not giving his body any time to cool down. They watched each other for a good minute in pure silence.

"Can I help you?" Desmond suddenly said in a light-hearted tone. Despite the heavy atmosphere, Desmond always had to present customers with a friendly first impression so they'd come back…even though Desmond definitely didn't want this guy to come back.

"Nah," the man shrugged and leaned back into his chair. The creaks sent shudders through Desmond's body. "I hope you don't mind, I'm just here to relax for a bit. Tough day at the office, though I'm sure you wouldn't know."

"No no, not at all…" Desmond continued wiping the counter top. Although the coffee-house was a strict "buy something or get out," Desmond didn't want to chase the guy out of the store for a first impression. The man looked like a snobby jack-ass anyway since he worked at "the office" so he should have some money to spare for a drink. Desmond walked around the counter with a small spray bottle and a moist towel and started wiping down the small tables.

"You're new here, yeah?" The man suddenly asked. Desmond flinched at the sudden question, and then resumed wiping the tables. "I've never seen you around New York." Desmond shrugged.

"New York is a big city," Desmond replied. His guest nodded.

"True, but I've actually covered some good ground around the city, and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen you around here recently." Desmond sighed as he placed the spray bottle down and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, you're right. I actually moved here a little while back," Desmond replied. "Got enrolled into a school here." He didn't want to tell the whole truth, nor did he really want to lie to the man either. "Got a full scholarship and everything." Alright, now _that _was a total lie.

"Ah, that's good, that's good. What school do you go to?"

"Uh, the Auditore Academy?" Desmond raised an eyebrow, wary of his answers. This man was getting a bit too comfortable for Desmond's liking. The man merely nodded with a weak smile. "And what about you? Where do you work?" The man raised his eyes to Desmond's with curiosity and confusion. He broke their gaze immediately after before responding.

"Gentek…" the man said, barely above a whisper. "I…I work at Gentek." He avoided Desmond's eyes as he clenched his hands together. Desmond hesitantly picked up his spray bottle.

"I see," he said, eyeing the strange man. Gentek, from what Desmond could remember, was some top-notch biological and genetics research facility. He also remembered the old man Ezio telling him about something called "Blackwatch" and the soldiers that are constantly patrolling around here are sort of partners with Gentek. Desmond shrugged as he walked back behind his counter. Whatever this "Gentek" company is, it certainly isn't _shit _compared to the shady business back in Abstergo.

The night passed on awkwardly in silence. Desmond had no orders to be filling, so he was completely free. The couple in the far corner had left quite some time ago, both hand in hand and smiling as they walked out into the chilly night. The young artist had accidentally fallen asleep while brainstorming for ideas. Desmond ended up having to wake her up and inform her that the coffee-house was closing soon. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she pulled on her heavy coat and wrapped her scarf around her neck. She thanked Desmond and he replied with a small smile, leaving her pink in the cheeks. She waved goodbye as she walked out and covered half her face with the top of her scarf.

The man, however, stayed put at his seat.

Desmond didn't bother to question it; instead he proceeded to the locker room to change back into his comfortable clothes and out of his dark uniform. He slipped his earpiece back on and called Ezio to tell him he was going back already. Ezio hummed in approval, then hung up shortly after. Desmond walked out back into the coffee-house, only to be greeted once more by the same man; he hadn't moved an inch from his seat.

"Excuse me sir, but I'm about to lock up. I think it's about time you got home. You _are _tired aren't you?" Desmond walked up to the man. He looked up at Desmond and simply nodded as he followed him out into the cold. Desmond locked the door and gave it a quick tug, making sure it was locked. He turned back to the man and gave him a rather awkward nod goodbye before walking off into the night. As he turned the corner out of sight, he snuck his way into a narrow alley before proceeding up the wall of the nearest building.

* * *

><p>He skidded to a halt, taking in a short breather. It was almost midnight. He wasn't so far from the academy anymore; he only had a few more streets to go down before he made it back. He perched himself at the corner of the building he was on, peering down at the streets below him. He smirked then shook his head. He never knew New York would still be so lively even at this time for night. Then again, it <em>was <em>the city that never slept. He closed his eyes and breathed; once opened, the world around him too that same iconic blue shade as it did before. He was able to pick out potential threats from civilians, most of them he noticed were Blackwatch soldiers…and…?

Desmond stood from his post and squinted. He quickly scanned his surroundings determining what path to take. He then crouched from his position and quickly leapt from the building. Chest forward, he plunged forward, grabbing hold of a flag pole protruding from the building across from him halfway down the fall. It bent, close to snapping from the sudden weight, then ricocheted straight back up, giving Desmond a small boost back into the air. He was flung toward the brick red wall of the building next door and nearly smacked his face into the wall itself before falling to his death. He grunted as he managed to grip the edge of a thin window frame, hanging in a crouching position a good long ways from the ground. He looked above him, then made a sudden leap for the next window. Climbing to the small building, he ran straight across the roof and peered down in the dark alleyway. In the pale blue atmosphere, four red figures grouped around a stranger, pressing them against the wall behind them. Desmond blinked, allowing the true darkness of the world to show.

His mouth twisted as he heard the revolting comments from the men below. The inched closer and closer to the woman below. Her voice couldn't escape her throat, but Desmond could tell she was terrified. No time to think. He leaped off of the roof down into the secluded alley and pinned his target to the cold, wet ground. Startled cries escaped the mouths around him as he stood. Punches and kicks were thrown, an even a knife was confiscated. The only man standing ran off as Desmond wiped the blood from his knuckles and sweat from his face. He had a good number of hits done in on him, but he was sure that he was much better than the three douche bags scattered around him. Desmond looked back at the woman who was still shaking behind him.

"You should hurry home…" he cleared his throat. He recognized the woman; she was the same girl who dozed off at Bad Weather. It was good that she didn't seem to be able to see Desmond's face. She flinched at the sudden advice, but nodded. She carefully stepped around the men strewn about, nearly losing her balance. She side-stepped around Desmond, squeaked out a "thank you," then ran back out into the crowded sidewalks. Desmond looked down on the men who held their sides and groaned in agony. His lip twitched at the sight of them. _Serves you assholes right, _he thought.

Alex's white grin can be seen from under his hood from above.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter IV_

Quiet knocks rapped against Alex's door around seven in the morning. He wasn't really sleeping; he rarely slept anyways. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, then suddenly grinned at the sound of the door knocks. They were cut and rapid, possibly hesitant. Alex cracked his neck as he stood up and slid his courier bag over his head across his chest. He didn't like the fact that the bag kept slapping his ass whenever he walked, but apparently it was all Dana got for him. He couldn't really protest since she got it for him as a small surprise on transferring to a new school.

He adjusted his jacket and then proceeded towards the door. It swung open with ease, surprising Desmond on the other side. He jumped back having sudden contact with Alex's ice blue eyes. Alex chuckled in his head while keeping a straight face. Usually he'd feel disgusted with himself when such people would stare at him with such fear, but watching this guy have small heart attacks when he would suddenly pop up interested Alex in the strangest way that even Alex couldn't explain himself.

"Uh, sorry if you were sleeping," Desmond's words faded. "But I thought I should show you around the school a little bit, you know, so you don't end up getting lost." He face quickly flushed. "I-I mean! Well, that is, if you ever _do _get lost, at least you kinda have a sense of where you're going and you don't have to ask people for directions. Since Dana said you're a bit distant from others," the words spilled out of Desmond's mouth rapidly. It made Alex smile, causing Desmond to blush even deeper. It was fun making him feel embarrassed, even though he was completely doing this to himself and Alex paid no contribution at all into making Desmond's face red. Desmond turned his head to the side with his hand behind his head, showing obvious signs of being uncomfortable. They stood in silence for a while before Alex decided to take lead and get on with their day. Desmond followed behind shortly after.

"So our first class is around here in the G building…" Desmond continued to explain the locations of their classes together and, if he wanted, he could walk with Desmond between classes. Alex looked at him with a blank look of curiosity that apparently didn't go through to Desmond, who took it as an offending look. He quickly covered it up by telling him that he didn't have to if he didn't want to; if he wanted to be alone then it was okay with him. Alex merely turned his head and stared at the hallways before him.

After Desmond's tour of the necessary parts of the school ended, they travelled the halls to their first class to "beat the traffic" as Desmond put it. The halls were beginning to fill with students, and their classroom was only four rooms away until the starting bell rang. Desmond informed the teacher of the new student in the class, saving Alex a formal introduction. The teacher nodded, apparently confirming that he'd been sent an email about this from Ezio just this morning. He specifically gave Alex a seat next to Desmond because of Ezio himself. Desmond didn't seem as disappointed as Alex thought he would be, though he didn't question it any further. As they took their seats, as girl with dark short hair with headphones around her ears walked in and sat in front of Desmond.

"Hey, morning Des," she yawned as she took her seat.

"Morning Rebecca," Desmond greeted with a lighter smile. Alex guessed that he was happy the heavy atmosphere had lifted.

"Who's the new kid?" She gestured toward Alex, not showing much worry about him.

"Oh um," Desmond turned to see Alex's reaction on whether or not he wanted to be introduced to her. Alex showed no opposition from which Desmond could tell. "Rebecca this is Alec Mercer. Alex this is Rebecca Crane." He turned back to Rebecca. "He transferred here just yesterday."

"Ah kinda like you, huh Desmond?" She gave a small grin. She twisted around her desk to face Alex with an outstretched hand. She definitely showed no worry about him.

"Hey there, Alex. I hope you find Auditore Academy to your liking," she said with a friendly tone. Her hand slowly retreated when Alex showed no signs of motion. "Ah, so you're sort of like the shy type, huh? Don't like being around people, kinda like a loner?"

"Rebecca!" Desmond whispered in a surprised yet warning vice. Rebecca ignored his warning. "I-I'm sorry Alex, Rebecca is just a really open person is all."

"Hey hey, I don't mind, it's cool. You like your space and I can respect that," she put her hands up in defense. "But you know, if you ever need anything, you can be sure that me or Desmond will be there to help you out. I mean, a friend of Des is a friend of mine," she twisted forward facing the front of the class. Desmond let out a shaky laugh.

"Ahaha…yeah a _friend_," Desmond sank in his chair. Shaun walked through the door and rushed his way into class.

"Yeah, yeah, good morning you two, good morning," he quickly said.

"Morning Shaun," Rebecca said half-heartedly.

"Morning," Desmond nodded. Shaun dropped his bag at the feet of his desk and plopped down into his seat. He proceeded to take out his notebook and a pencil before finally noticing Alex.

"Who's the new guy?" Shaun asked, totally disregarding Alex's dark appearance. Desmond mushed his face into his palm.

"This is Alex," Desmond said in his hand with a slight hostile tone. He must've been annoyed with his friends being so blunt. "He transferred here just yesterday from…uh…I don't know what school actually."

"Well why don't you ask him?" Rebecca suddenly said. "He shouldn't mind being asked at least that, right? Hey Alex," she twisted in her seat to face Alex once more. "What school did you come from?" Alex shifted in his seat.

"O-of course, he doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to, Rebecca," Desmond quickly butted in. "It's his business, and we shouldn't really bother him on it if he doesn't want us too."

"I studied genetics before at Gentek's educational wing. I sort of worked as I studied," Alex answered bluntly. The three around before him stared; Desmond more wide-eyed than the others. "What," Alex asked with a monotone voice.

"Oh, n-no nothing, nothing," Desmond reassured.

"So basically kind of like hands on learning?" Rebecca asked. "Wow that's pretty cool." Alex shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess," Alex sunk into his chair. He caught Desmond's eyes wandering about him. "What?" His voice came out rather hostile. Desmond jumped in his chair, turning his head back to the front of the class while turning fairly pink. Alex gave him a rather sour glare under his dark hood, then went back to slumping into his seat. He frowned at himself, rather disappointed he scared the poor guy. He grunted, remembering what he truly was: a monster—the human shape of one's nightmares. He was nothing but a biogenetically engineered animal that the army wanted to control and use for their own rotten reasons. Alex didn't even consider himself a human being. Any average human man would naturally be terrified or look down on someone or something that ideal to their taste. No one could ever love a beast.

* * *

><p>Today's served lunch turned out to be a mesh of mixed potatoes, carrots, and peas, with a side-cup of sliced bananas and a small carton of frozen orange juice. Desmond made a face when he saw the lunch lady slide him his food tray, at the same time asking him how his day was as she did to the other students. Desmond pulled up a smile and reluctantly picked up his Styrofoam food tray and merely did a combination of a nod and a shrug—as if the lady knew what that even meant. He maneuvered his way through the crowded mess hall to his table on the far right of the cafeteria. His friends Rebecca, Shaun, and Lucy—dear god, Lucy—were all waiting for him. His face tugged in a smile the moment he saw her. Total relief was what he felt. He needed it after such a long day of playing babysitter. Desmond took his seat across from Lucy and Shaun next to Rebecca.<p>

"So who wants my whole lunch?" Desmond pushed his tray in front of him.

"Why what's wrong with it? Did the lunch lady drop something in it?" Rebecca poked it with her spork.

"Nah, Desmond just hates squishy foods," Lucy replied. "When we were younger, he told me that eating bananas kind of made him want to vomit. He can't really have pudding either." Desmond shrugged off his embarrassment. He was slightly glad she remembered something he told her a long time ago. Rebecca nodded and went back to shaping her mashed potatoes into some kind of mashed potato castle.

"So Desmond," Shaun said in a sudden low voice that was hard to hear over the cafeteria chatter. "You're resuming your training today, yeah? Heh, good luck."

"Yeah, thanks for the confidence boost," Desmond folded his arms across the lunch table and tucked his chin in the middle.

"Dick move, Shaun. Don't worry Des, you'll do fine," Rebecca slapped Desmond's back rather violently, making him wince as he arched his back at the pain.

"The VR training takes a little time to get used to, but if I can do it, then I'm sure you can do ten times better," Lucy reassured. "It's a good thing we trained double time at Black Hills. I think because of that it'll help you a whole lot. They should start you off

"Haha, yeah," Desmond said rather sarcastically. Rebecca suddenly shot up from her seat, making Desmond jump. "Jesus Christ, Rebecca…" Rebecca looked down at Desmond and gave an apologetic face. You might even start off as a _Guerriero _or a _Veterano._"

"You okay, Des? You've been all jumpy lately," she asked. Desmond rested his forehead into the pocket of his arms. He didn't care if it was in the middle of lunchtime; he was ready for a good nap.

"Just went out last night for a good run, if you catch my drift." Rebecca replied with a quick "oh."

"Dana! Over here!" A few minutes later, Desmond could hear the chatter of his friends greeting the newcomer, followed by the table thumps of seats being taken.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Oh don't worry about him Dana, he's just tired from some stuff he did last night," Lucy's voice replied.

"Don't say it like that, you make it sound like he was doing something dirty," Shaun spoke. Desmond could imagine Lucy's appalled yet amused face. Rebecca and Dana's laughter mixed around the table.

"Well of _course _he was out doing _something_," Rebecca suddenly said. "Me and Des totally had a great time together!" Desmond suddenly could feel his face burn with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.

"What do you mean 'you and Des'?" Lucy struggled to keep her giggles contained. "You and I both know that only _I _can bring the heat."

"Um, excuse me ladies, but I think you've officially weirded her out," Shaun said over their laughter.

"No no, it's okay Shaun," Dana spoke suddenly. "Between you and me though, I'd say you guys haven't experienced 'rough and ready' unless I'd be there with you." Desmond suddenly flipped up his head and smacked his hands on the table.

"_Come on you guys, I'm still alive and breathing here! I can hear everything you're saying!" _The girls sounded like they were choking on air.

"Oh my god look his face is so red! You always blush so easily Des!" Rebecca was tearing up. Desmond mushed his face into his palm. His arm brushed Alex's jacket beside him. Desmond looked up suddenly, catching a glance of Alex's hood; he could see the end of his mouth curved into a grin.

"Oh come on! Not you too!" Desmond suddenly stood up with his arms in the air. Alex looked up at Desmond, still grinning.

"See! Alex doesn't think we're weird either Shaun!" Rebecca pointed out. Alex chuckled under his hood.

"No, you guys are just very _interesting,_" Alex shrugged and leaned on the table. Desmond eyed his friends as their laughs calmed…only then did he notice how close Alex was to his personal space. Desmond swallowed the spit in his mouth, cautiously taking his seat.

"Oh yeah, so Dana, you and Alex were schooled at Gentek, right?" Rebecca suddenly said. Desmond could feel Alex go tense.

"That's right," Dana said with ease.

"Gentek?" Shaun repeated. "You know, speaking of Gentek, I hear some shady business is going on between them and _Abstergo." _Desmond notices Shaun making eye contact with him, Lucy, and Rebecca.

"Oh really?" Dana says, interested.

"Yeah yeah, I've been hearing some rumors that Abstergo is buying Gentek or something," Shaun says in a low voice.

"Abstergo is _buying _Gentek?" Desmond repeated.

"That's impossible," Alex spoke up. "Gentek is the largest biological and genetic research company. It's been top-notch in its equipment since 1976. Judging by how much equipment they have and how much money they need to fund and sponsor their research, it's impossible to buy them."

"You sound so sure," Lucy merely said.

"I _am _sure," Alex said sternly.

"Well, time for you to brush up on what you know of Abstergo, pal," Shaun crossed his arms. "Abstergo Industries was officially founded in 1937 and is one of the largest and most prominent multinational corporations in the world. You probably only know them as a pharmaceutical development company, but that's just what they are to the public. It would make sense for a company like Abstergo to want a biological research company like Gentek."

"Abstergo Industries is one of the top contributors to the technological development of the world, so we can assume that Gentek can be using stuff _from _Abstergo. They're probably telling Gentek 'hey, without all of our stuff, you wouldn't be so successful. Now it's time to pay your rent,' or something like that," Rebecca stated. "Abstergo has always been involved with shady operations like this."

"No way…" Dana muttered. Alex remained silent.

* * *

><p>Desmond rolled his shoulders and wiped his face with a towel on standby. He awkwardly nodded at the young woman who stood near the door of the VR room, holding a tray of refreshments and snacks. Beside her sat a rather large first-aid kit that was the size of an army storage box. He wanted to question why such a size was needed when he was only doing virtual training and his injuries couldn't physically hurt him, but he held his tongue. He now understood why so much money of the school was put into the medical needs.<p>

He trudged through the halls of the training floor, peeking in some of the VR rooms and watching a few people stumble and trip over themselves. Desmond shook his head. They're so clumsy and awkward trying to train themselves. Even if they master the moves in VR training, they definitely wouldn't be able to handle the real deal of actually getting blood on their hands, or having to jump from building to building a good thirty feet above ground. They can try, but they'll certainly choke.

The low rumble of his phone startled him as he studied a recruit behind the door. He answered his phone, only to hear Ezio on the other line.

"Desmond, how was your VR training? The VR rooms are built under the school so only the people taking the Assassin's Training know about them."

"It was good. Pretty realistic, I might say," Desmond replied. "The fighting sequences were pretty challenging."

"Good, good. If they weren't challenging then you wouldn't learn anything," he chuckled. Desmond tried to laugh along with him, but the sound stuck in his throat. He sighed and waited for the man to resume. "_Bambino, _I have good news."

"Yes?"

"I have the contract for your first mission," Ezio spoke slowly. "It may be a little difficult, but I have faith in you." Desmond stood inside the white elevator and waited for the ding to indicate the arrival of his floor. He spoke slowly and quietly as he stepped out.

"What do you need me to do," he asked as he fast walked to the Boy's Dormitory.

"Rumors have been saying that Abstergo working on something along with a separate company known as Gentek," Ezio proceeded.

"Rumors saying that Abstergo might buy Gentek, right?"

"Yes," Ezio confirmed. "Malik had gained information that says an Abstergo agent is having a meeting with the founder of Gentek soon. We believe they may speak of their plans for a new project." Desmond crossed the lawn of the Boy's Dormitory and swiftly entered the lobby of the building.

"How soon will the meeting be exactly?"

"Two days from now."

"Of course it would be," Desmond snorted. "Alright then."

"Keep in mind _Bambino_, this is a stealth mission. You cannot be discovered under any circumstances. I'd prefer you not to kill any enemies you encounter, but if it cannot be avoided, then do as you must."

"I'll try to knock them out instead?" Desmond suggested.

"_Bene. _It may be time consuming, so if all else fails, remember to send them off with peace."

"I understand," Desmond nodded to himself. He tapped his food impatiently as he waited for the elevator to arrive in the lobby.

"You are to be ready and begin your mission by six-thirty pm on the day of the meeting. I will give you the full procedure tomorrow morning. Get a lot of rest beforehand. You are going to need all your energy for this."

"Of course." The elevator dinged as the doors slowly slid open. They spoke their farewells over the phone as Desmond stepped into the velvet red elevator.

* * *

><p>To be continued in Chapter V…<p>

Striders Babbles: IT'S BEEN A WHILE HASN'T IT? Sadly I've been trying to get my school work done and I've also just been very lazy haha ^^;; A little bit of research went into this about the two companies. I wanted to try and tie them together somehow since both games had big powerful companies involved I wondered what would happen if they joined forces! MWAHAHA D The way I put things together was kind of on the spot so if the whole thing sounds a little sketchy to you, please forgive me. OTL I didn't want to add in too much stuff and then suddenly make the two companies all weird sounding.

Also, Alex has started to speak! Whoaaaaaa. I wanted Dana and Alex to still be tied in with Gentek somehow, but I didn't want Gentek to be a school since Abstergo was going to work with it. The whole "working while I learned" thing must sound a little stupid. v_v;; Please forgive me again.

Finally, the last thing I want to mention is the Assassin Rank system! You might've been a little confused when Lucy said they might start off Desmond as a _Guerriero _or a _Veterano_. Those are simply the rankings given to the Assassin's who join the Brotherhood with Recruit being the lowest and Master Assassin being the highest. They way I described the Assassin Trainees in the VR rooms kind of made it sound like they were ALL Recruits ^^;; Hehehe…

Anyways, I'll try to write and update more often! I shall now try to make things more interesting from here on out ;D Stick around!


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter V_

His desk shook subtly throughout his morning classes, all the way until the bell that signaled break time had rang. He flinched in his seat like a startled cat, and then began to quickly retrieve his belongings. Moving all too hastily, he knocked his pack over his desk, causing his pencils and papers to fly out from within. Rebecca offered him aid as he scrambled to create order.

"Hey hey hey, calm down, Des. Breathe a little, why don'tcha?" She handed him a stack of jumbled papers that he heedlessly stuffed into his pack. "Uh, okay don't calm down then. Listen, you got that call from the chairman, yeah? Shaun you too, right?"

"Yes, but it would be ideal to not talk about these things in public, alright?" Shaun put his index finger to his lips.

"As if people know what we're talking about," Rebecca rolled her eyes. Though you could tell she was trying to be more cautious on account of her hushed tone. "Anyway, what does the chairman want with us?"

"Whatever it is, it must be important. I mean, if Desmond is freaking out this much, it should be big," Shaun shrugged.

"I'm not freaking out!" Desmond said rather loudly as her slipped through his pack. "Come on let's go." Shaun shrugged at Rebecca and both followed Desmond's lead out the door.

His first contract turned up earlier than he had expected. Not to mention high class. After the phone call last night, Desmond began over-analyzing everything; practically imagined how he wanted everything to play out. He was taken aback when he realized just how difficult this job might be. Why would the chairman want to assign him a possible five-star contract for his first mission? Irrational thoughts ran through his mind throughout the night, keeping him up most of the time. But it's not like he was going in totally alone. If Shaun and Rebecca were being called in as well, then he was probably going to have some kind of help, right?

"Des, slow down! We can't maneuver through these crowded hallways like you can," Rebecca called out. He hadn't noticed he was slipping through the crowd so rapidly. He tried to go back against the crowd to make sure he wouldn't lose his friends, but he was constantly shoved back in the direction he was originally going.

"Just go, Des! We'll catch up with you later," Rebecca reassured. Desmond raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Alright then, but hurry up! Break won't last very long," he replied. "Later!" Desmond turned and followed his side of the crowd through the elaborate but narrow hallway. He managed to squeeze his way out to a branching hallway before he was shoved into the cafeteria. He stood for a while, trying to catch his breath.

It wasn't that he hated crowds; they were fine for trying to hide from people he didn't want to meet. He just couldn't stand being shoulder-to-shoulder with a bunch of people who were invading his personal bubble. He adjusted his collar on his uniform and fixed his sleeves before he set out again.

"Oh, Desmond! Hey!" Desmond looked up to see Dana walking towards him. His nerves went cold his eyes set on Alex behind Dana.

"H-hey, Dana," Desmond managed a weak smile. He was surprised when she suddenly put her arms around his body for a hug. Dumbfounded, he kept his hands up, unsure whether to hug her back or push her away. He settled for a pat on the head. She didn't mind the little gesture since a small giggle escaped her throat. Desmond could feel his face heat up slightly. He didn't bother to look in Alex's direction for approval; he already knew he was in for it later anyway.

"Where are you going? The cafeteria is that way," Dana asked once she finally released Desmond. "Are you going to skip brunch?" Desmond rubbed his head.

"Yeah, I was actually called in by the chairman earlier. Apparently he wants to discuss something with me."

"You too?" Dana pouted lightly. Desmond raised an eyebrow.

"'Me too'?" He repeated. Dana nodded.

"Yeah, Lucy said she had to go to the chairman's office earlier too once the bell rang," Dana explained. "Are Shaun and Rebecca going to skip brunch too?" Desmond carefully nodded, unsure whether to answer the question or not. Dana furrowed her eyebrows. "_All _of you guys are going to meet the chairman? What does he need everyone for?"

"Honestly, I don't know what for," Desmond tried to play it off. "But you know, don't worry, we'll be back for lunchtime. Besides, I'm pretty sure what he has to say to us won't be so important," Desmond patted her head again. "Alright, I better get going."

"Okay, we'll see you later then. Come on Alex, let's go get some food," Dana said as Desmond walked past her brother. He quickly turned at a corner and slumped against the wall. He didn't know much about Alex, but his presence always seemed to put Desmond's insides in turmoil.

"That kid is terrifying…" Desmond said to himself.

* * *

><p>"Ah, Desmond! Perfect timing; Dana and Shaun just arrived as well so we may begin the contract details," Ezio greeted. Desmond quickly slipped through the door into his great grandfather's office. Ezio sat behind his large desk with Malik, Altaïr, and Mr. da Vinci standing behind him. Desmond's friends occupied both seats in front of the chairman's large desk. Rebecca sat in one with her laptop open on her lap while Shaun sat on the wide arm rests with his arms crossed. In the other chair sat Lucy, smiling and patiently waiting. The churning feeling left by Alex disappeared from Desmond's stomach.<p>

"Here Desmond, you can sit next to me," Lucy scooted over and patted the velvet red seat cushion.

"I-I think I'll just stand," Desmond awkwardly took his place to the right of Lucy's chair.

"Are you sure?" She whispered. He quickly nodded. Desmond could hear the stifled laughs from Shaun and Rebecca.

"Well, now that we're all here…" Ezio turned to Rebecca. "_Signora_ Crane, please. _Signore _Hastings, the lights," Rebecca nodded and tapped the keys on her laptop while Shaun stood up to shut the lights off. "Place your attention on the white table in front of you, if you'd be so kind," Ezio said. A small pure white table with a thin base was standing in the middle of the room; the top of which was glowing bright. Suddenly, a fifteen inch hologram building materialized and rotated above the head of the table. Just above the entrance was a sign that was read as "Gentek."

"This is the Gentek facility in Manhattan," Ezio explained as the hologram animated to his voice. "The building has more than fifty floors, and has a heavily guarded entrance that is patrolled by a special forces under the name of Blackwatch." Pictures of various Blackwatch soldiers scroll above the table. "This man here—" a man in a suit with glasses and slicked back hair appeared "—is known as Raymond McMullen. He is founder and current CEO of Gentek. As you all know, Malik has gained information that _Signore _McMullen is having a private meeting with an Abstergo agent. That agent goes by the name of Aubrey Jacobs. She is Alan Rikkin's assistant; however she is not a part of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order."

"Why would Rikkin send his assistant to this big project meeting instead of going himself?" Desmond spoke.

"He's cautious, Desmond," Lucy replied. "He knows we're out to get him, and not only that, he's the CEO. He probably has other matters to take care of."

"Yeah, but he's buying Gentek. Wouldn't McMullen want to discuss those kinds of things with him and not anyone else?"

"I don't think McMullen wants to talk about anything but continuing whatever research he's got going on right now. Let alone him signing off his company to Abstergo," Shaun cut in. Ezio nodded.

"Unfortunately, as you can see, details are very limited. However, one thing is for sure, talk of a new project is going on between both companies, and they've even decided to take rather extreme measures to make sure no outsiders disturb their meeting," Ezio explained. "Gentek has asked Blackwatch to guard _Signora _Jacobs until she has arrived at Gentek and keep a tight surveillance over the building as the meeting is being held. Blackwatch has assured that they will use some of their _best soldiers_ for the occasion," Ezio cleaned his glasses with a small cloth before placing them back in front of his eyes.

"Now for the reason we've called all of you here," Altaïr spoke from the shadows. "This job, as you know, is a difficult one that can only be accomplished if all of you work together. We won't restrict you and give you a play-by-play plan of how we want this to happen; you will decide your own procedure for this. However, we do want you to do this mission under stealth—" he eyed Desmond "—like a true _Assassin._"

Altaïr began to explain each of their significant roles in this job. Rebecca was going to be the eye in the sky (our "Eagle Eye" to be precise); her role was to be the guide through Gentek. Giving instructions on where to go, which place to hide in, where the quickest route to escape was located, and if needed, hacking and opening locked rooms that needed to be accessed. Shaun was to be the Voice of Advice. He will be the one who plans out our procedure and how the plan will be carried out. If trouble were to rise, Shaun would be the man for tactical guidance. Lucy and Desmond landed the roles of infiltration.

"You two are to work together and watch each other's backs throughout the mission. There is no room for error," Altaïr emphasized. "If you are breached, you are to use whatever means to escape, but keep your identities hidden. If you are caught…then I'm afraid we cannot guarantee your safety." His words lingered into the air leaving a chill. Desmond swallowed his accumulating saliva in his mouth and nodded.

"Now then, the bell is about to ring soon. You kids should get to your classes," Ezio suddenly said with a change of tone.

"After school, come back to my class," Mr. da Vinci spoke up. "Desmond, Lucy, I will have presents for the both of you. I hope you'll find them useful for your upcoming mission." He smiled brightly.

* * *

><p>The chatter of the cafeteria echoed through Desmond's ears. He groaned as he pulled his hood over his head and nuzzled his nose in his arms. Not having any sleep from the night before, he was beginning to feel cranky. Plastic lunch trays abruptly clattered against the table, making him jump in his seat.<p>

"Come on Desmond, quit being such a grump!" Dana laughed across from him. He looked up from his arms to see his friends eating their lunch and laughing away. Desmond nuzzled his nose back into his arms.

"I hate people. People are too loud. People won't let me sleep," Desmond complained.

"Well actually, smart one," Shaun interrupted. "You're the one who's trying to sleep in the cafeteria during lunchtime…where _everyone _is eating and trying to mingle. You can't hate people for trying to hang out with each other." Desmond glared at Shaun from under his hood.

"People. Are. Annoying," Desmond groaned again. He felt a light hand on his back.

"Why don't you go sleep outside in the back garden or something? Or maybe the rooftop garden. It's a nice day out," Lucy recommended. Desmond mulled over it for a while.

"The rooftop garden is locked, isn't it?" Desmond replied.

"Actually, it's only locked to those who _can't get in,_" Lucy whispered. "The chairman himself said that on the first day of class to the kids who are taking Assassin's training. I think he sees it as a good workout for novices. If you're not too tired, you might be able to make you way up there, don't you think?" She winked at him. "Lunch has just started, so I'm pretty sure you'll be able to fit in some nap time." Desmond leisurely stood up and made his way outside of the cafeteria. "Be sure to make it back to class on time!"

* * *

><p>Alex adjusted his posture and sat up straight. As uncomfortable as it was, sitting up in a tall pine tree was a good idea. It was quiet; the voices of the chattering students were left behind, fifty meters on the ground. The wind was cool and the branches shaded him from sunlight. The tree was close to the walls of the school; if he was lucky, he could climb up and pull himself through an open window and walk to class. He didn't need and explanation. Who cared? Best of all, no one knew he was up in the tree in the first place.<p>

His past days in the academy weren't too bad as he'd thought it would be. The teachers were either nice enough to let him have his way part of the time or truly terrified to stand up to him (he didn't know which…it was probably the latter). Dana's friends seemed fine enough to trust. He thought of Lucy and Rebecca; both were interesting and were good girl companions for his sister. He didn't pay much mind to the British one; he seemed more like a motherly figure than a threat to Alex. Desmond however…

Alex's first impression of Desmond wasn't so flattering. Fairly tall and slightly tanned guy with a rather regular looking build; he wasn't so much in Alex's eyes. Just another human, blind of his surroundings with an insignificant role in Alex's mind: food. Nothing more, nothing less. All useless humans were food. Desmond was likewise.

Or so Alex thought.

The night of Alex's hunt had slightly—if not fully—changed his opinion of Desmond. Instead of food, he now saw Desmond as a form of entertainment. It was interesting enough to watch his reflexes for defense by almost instantly at Alex's immediate presence, but after focusing on the glow of his strange eyes that night, Alex found himself fixated on this particular human. He's tried to catch the color of Desmond's eyes multiple times, but they've always shown as brown, and not as the glowing white-blue he had seen that night. Alex was determined to see those eyes of his again; he didn't think anyone would have such an eye color more appealing than his or his sister's. And after witnessing the small brawl that happened down in the alleyway that night, Alex concluded that he'd found an interesting toy that could entertain him as he stayed at this academy. Desmond's sudden flinches and clumsy nature around Alex made him laugh for quite some time, but it was beginning to be irksome at the thought of him being such a terrified kitten near him. To Alex, he believed he thought indifferently of Desmond, however recently he's realized that he wants some kind of acceptance from him. Alex was already in the clear for the rest of Dana's friends, but leaving Desmond out left him with such an unsatisfied feeling.

But why? Alex was only interested in the fact Desmond's eyes can glow. That was all it got down to. Other than that, he thought of no other reason to be involved with him. All Alex wanted was to see his eyes glow again; such a thing had only sparked his curiosity (a rare thing, with him being ever alert). It wasn't like he could just walk up to Desmond and ask him: "hey, make your eyes freakishly glow." Not only did Alex believe that they weren't on very friendly terms, it would make him look strange…

Then again, when did he ever care on what he looked like to the public? To those who knew his true self, they knew he was a monster. A beast with no emotions. A living demon that was, at the same time, dead. The truth was, he was all of those things. Name every terrifying label you could think of, and he would agree with it. Dana was the only person who knew of this and accepted him as her brother, even though her brother is no longer alive. As of now, he's only a form of biomass reconstructed to make him look like the former "Alex Mercer." The name he has now is just a nickname given to him by Dana. He's truly known as "_Zeus_," _the Prototype. _

He sighed and slumped against the tree trunk. Over-thinking had become a terrible habit of his lately. If he could hunt or let out some steam on school-grounds, he would be less morbid than he is now. He didn't know why he was following that ever-so-happy chairman's rules, but if it kept Dana happy, then he had no choice but to grudgingly oblige. He shut his eyes and forcibly fought his urge to feed.

The click of a window caused Alex to open his eyes instantly. The unbearably screeching of it being slid open irritated him, disturbing his peace. He could hear the voices from inside.

"Be careful now; oh, I hope no one sees this…"

"I'll be fine, Mr. da Vinci. After all, I've been doing this for years. I'm a professional at this." A small groan escaped from the room. Alex raised his eyebrow. He was certain he heard to male voices. He wasn't sure if he wanted to listen to this conversation or not…

"Well…Alright then…but make sure that Chairman Ezio doesn't find out! If he knew I let you do this, I could be in big trouble…"

"Oh Mr. da Vinci, didn't you know? The chairman is okay with these kinds of things."

"He is?"

"Yes, he says he sees it as 'some form of training.'" Alex nearly fell off his tree branch. They were talking fairly loudly too. If they were going to do such…_overwhelming_ acts at school, then at least have some courtesy to do so in private, was what Alex thought.

"Oh yes, he did say something like that to the teachers during a conference…"

"See? I'll be fine," the voice came close to the window. "So if I'm somehow late to class, you'll know why!"

"That doesn't mean you're excused, _Messere_ Miles!" Laughing can be heard clearly from the window now.

"Of course it doesn't," Desmond laughed. Alex was completely dumbfounded by now. Before he could even think of explanations of what just occurred, Desmond jumped up and crouched on the window frame, and then suddenly vaulted to the nearest tree branch.

"Ah, you'll have to teach both the chairmen how to do that one day," Mr. da Vinci came up to the window. "Neither of them can climb trees! Haha!" Desmond slithered his way up on some of the narrowest tree branches.

"Well, at lease Ezio can swim, right?" He replied. They both laughed light-heartedly. Alex peered through the poking branches and needles at Desmond's smile. It was the first time Alex had ever seen him so content. He was unaware that he'd started to smile as well.

Alex (along with Mr. da Vinci) watched Desmond scale the side of the building in fascination. Mr. da Vinci applauded once it was visible that Desmond had made it to the roof. He nodded to himself and shut his window and went back to his classroom. Alex debated on whether or not he'd wanted to go up and see the roof as well. He hadn't seen it yet, and it could serve as an excuse if he were caught by Desmond.

He suddenly laughed at the thought. An excuse if he were caught by Desmond? This made him sound like a stalker. Although, he didn't mind as much anyway. He'd been called worse in the past.

Carefully, he made his way up the tall pine tree until the branches became too thin to climb. He surveyed the building wall; it didn't look like anything was visible for him to hang on to. How in the world did Desmond make his way up this thing? Alex didn't want to use his biomass for it would tear visible chunks into the brick walls. With no other option, he only hoped that the tree would block the cracks in the wall from civilians. He gripped the edge of the roof and swung himself up. Landing safely on his feet, he patted the crumbs of brick wall from his uniform. He looked up to see Desmond's purely confused face. Alex grinned.

"Hey."

"Uh…hey…?" Desmond seemed uneasy. He was sitting in a patch of grass under a tree in front of a large circular marble fountain. To the left of Alex was a small dome; possibly a planetarium. To the right was a green house, surrounded by multiple flowers of varying colors.

"Oh, so this is what's up here," Alex said, trying to play it cool. Desmond merely looked at the blades of grass under him and nodded. Alex could sense that he was agitated. He furrowed his brows; he didn't know how to make peace with this guy.

"Hah… Hey, you think I can join you under the shade?" Desmond looked up from the grass and genuinely stared at him. Alex himself was also confused of what he said. "It's a little hot for me, and your tree is pretty much the closes than the other ones," he pulled at the collar of his shirt repetitively, letting air through to his body. Both of them were still unsure of what he was saying. The truth was, Alex wasn't even hot at all, and it was a beautiful day out. An awkward silence passed with them staring at each other before either of them spoke again. Alex shrugged.

"I'll take your silence as a 'yes,'" he said as he invited himself under the tree. Desmond quickly broke eye contact and went back to pinching the little blades of grass beneath him. Alex took his seat behind Desmond, leaning back against the large trunk of the tree. He folded his arms and watched Desmond with his legs crossed for a while.

Ten minutes had passed, and in that time he'd caught Desmond taking quick peeks looking behind him, turning back around faster each time he made sure Alex was still there. Alex shook his head and chuckled to himself as Desmond's red ears were clearly visible. Desmond turned around once more at the sound of Alex's voice, with his cheeks still red. This time, Alex raised an eyebrow and grinned at Desmond, giving him a small wave. Desmond's eyes grew wide and spun back around as his whole face flushed a deep red. Alex laughed out loud this time, making Desmond sink into the ground out of embarrassment.

While he was still laughing, Desmond suddenly stood up and faced Alex once more. He threw a handful of grass blades in Alex's direction that merely floated around with the wind.

"Qu-Quit teasing me!" Desmond exclaimed. Alex watched him for a moment, surprised, then raised an eyebrow once more.

"I'm sorry? I don't know what you're talking about," Alex grinned under his hood. Desmond's breathing was ragged and his face was still red.

"You know what I mean!"

"_I _wasn't doing anything," Alex stood up from his spot and started walking towards Desmond. "_You,_ on the other hand…" he stopped until he was a good foot away from where Desmond was standing. "Haha…you did that all by yourself." Alex crossed his arms and kept his grin. Desmond began to stand down from his sudden fit of frustration. He avoided Alex's ice blue eyes and shut his own eyes, looking down at his feet. Alex chuckled once more as he closed the space between them.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Their faces were only inches away now. Desmond's eyes flew open, alarmed at how close Alex's voice sounded. He didn't dare look up from his feet. He could hear Alex's calm breathing clearly. The sounds all around them had silenced. There was no wind, no birds; he couldn't even hear Alex's voice anymore. It was all replaced with Desmond's erratic heartbeat.

Alex pulled up Desmond's face by the chin, and with eyes half-lidded, he pressed his lips against Desmond's.

* * *

><p>To be continued in Chapter VI<p>

…OHOHOHOHOHO!~ Sudden turn of events at the end, AMIRITE? …No…? It was…it was completely expected, you say…? Ah…I see then… WELL AT LEAST THEIR AQUAINTANCE WITH EACH OTHER IS MOVING FORWARD ;A;

Hooray for summer vacation! As much as I'd like to stay home and be on the computer all day, I'll be flown to Hawaii soon for my cousin's birthday. -sighs- so of course, I won't write as frequently again…this is partially also because I'm lazy BUT at least I'm trying to update, yes? Well…I don't update as quickly as I thought…

ANYWAY, happy Strider Babble is happy. This is the longest chapter so far (even though it doesn't look that long at all). I tried to pace myself because I was so eager to upload a new chapter as soon as possible but I didn't want to make it super short for you guys and then be disappointed. I ended up typing a little bit more than I thought I would, so I'm kinda happy ^^

A _SMALL _writer's block is at bay here, for I'm still trying to link together Abstergo and Gentek. It was a little easy at first but it's hard to put these two together with little information. I mean, sure it's my fanfiction and what I say basically goes, but I want to try and keep this as close to both game's storylines as possible. For example, **Aubrey Jacobs**. I honestly don't know whether or not that character in Assassin's Creed is a lady or a manly man… All I know is that the person is Alan Rikkin's personal assistant. =3=

Well, we'll see how this goes! I hope you'll all forgive me for such an irregular update timing, but I'm trying! ;A; So please stick around for the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter VI_

Clocked straight under his jawbone, Alex didn't even bother to stagger back. He lightly rubbed his jaw with his thumb, grinning with amusement. He cracked his neck as he folded his arms and held his gaze upon the bewildered young man before him. Desmond however, held his burning glare this time around.

With his fist shaking beneath him, Desmond found it difficult to find the correct words to convey his fury. His mind spoke—no, _screamed _of profanities and insults of every sort. All that escaped his mouth was frustrated panting. He wanted to throw another swing; to give this…this…this jackass a heavy beat down. He _wanted _to, but at the same time, he was _afraid _to. Desmond was sure he'd thrown his whole strength (added with personal anger) into his hook shot. Instead of Alex falling back, Desmond took a few steps back from his own force. The fact that his punch wasn't enough to even faze Alex in the least gave Desmond a chill. It wasn't necessarily a rock he felt like he'd punched—he could still feel the subtleness of Alex's skin upon his—it was almost like punching a hard chest of marble or something. He didn't know. Desmond's mind was cluttered more with the thought of Alex's kiss than a proper way to describe the punch.

_Shit, _that _kiss. _Desmond felt his body warm as his head was filled with nothing but the experience replaying back in his head, over and over. He remembered Alex's steady stride as he began to close the gap between them. He remembered Alex's painfully ice blue eyes that seemed like they could see through any façade. He achingly remembered Alex's low, coarse voice drew near him, and how his last few words fell deaf upon his ears as he inched closer to his lips. The event happened so quickly, it unfortunately also left Desmond with questions…all of which began with "why."

"Ahh, _fuck_!" Desmond threw another swing at Alex, only to have his fist caught in Alex's palm. The dark, enigmatic young man tightly held his grip on Desmond's hand, giving out a short burst of laughter. Desmond's eyes shined an amazing white-blue. The color scheme of the world around him changed, making the young man before him shine a beautiful bright gold. Mercer wasn't just a regular enemy; he wasn't weak nor was he at all stupid. He was Desmond's personal target. One who was assigned by will, using no missions of the sort.

"Oh come on, it was _just a small kiss!_" Alex yanked on his fist, forcing Desmond to fumble close to Alex's feet. "Calm down, little kitten." Alex pulled Desmond's face dangerously close once more. Growling, Desmond took hold of Alex's wrist and pulled his hand free. He twisted Alex's wrist and pressed his arm into his back. He pressed his foot into the back of Alex's knee and pinned him face-first into the hard grey cement.

"Don't fuck with me," Desmond whispered, digging his knee into Alex's lower back. He bent Alex's open palm as far in as it could go; he planned on making this as painful as possible for him. "Don't fuck with me!" Desmond mushed the side of Alex's head into the cement. Alex mustered up a grin that was vibrant under his dark hood.

"Someone's a little spicy today," he said eagerly. Desmond tugged back on Alex's hood, revealing his short, curled dark brown hair and pale skin. "Like I said, it was just a small kiss." His cockiness only pushed Desmond further down the wrong way.

Desmond wasn't in any way homophobic. He'd met quite a few on his journey to New York, and met a good number of them at Bad Weather. Shaun once asked him how he could be so comfortable around them, but he merely told him that they weren't so different than everyone else. It was uncomfortable to get hit on by them a few times…well actually it's always uncomfortable to him regardless of gender. Though he's always been able to make friendly with them. However, this moment was all too sudden for Desmond to wrap his head around. He pulled Alex up on his knees by his hair.

"What I'd give to be able to kill you right now," Desmond whispered by Alex's ear.

"Ha, _scary_," Alex gave a low chuckle. "You sure you can handle blood on your hands?" Desmond held his empty wrist near his would-be-victim's throat. He deathly wished he had his Hidden Blade.

"More than you _know_," he replied. The lunch bell rang below them. Desmond hissed as he suddenly shoved Alex away. "Just stay the hell away from me, Mercer," and with that, he leaped off the building and made his way down the tree to his art class.

Alex lay comfortably on the cement of the roof. His breathing had become slightly erratic; he didn't realize when it began to feel so warm…nor did he realize how uncomfortably tight his pants suddenly felt. He managed to bring himself up on his feet and pulled his hood over his head. Once he arrived to his next class he had had an interesting thought:

_Being forced into submission didn't seem all too bad. _

* * *

><p>Desmond had his eyes squinted and kept his eyebrows furrowed. He had calmed down to some extent, no longer necessarily wanting to take Mercer's life, but found another strong reason why he feels the need to avoid him. He paced around frequently, unable to sit still.<p>

"_Messere _Miles, do you feel alright?" Mr. da Vinci spoke up. "You seemed rather…unnerved during class."

"I'm fine, Mr. da Vinci. Just a little nervous about the new contract," Desmond told a blunt lie. He didn't bother being sweet. Mr. da Vinci merely pouted, and then went on to placing down his tools on his presentation table where he kept some example paintings for his students to examine. However, the table was empty of said paintings except for a few "presents." Desmond walked up to the table while Mr. da Vinci hummed to himself as he set up everything.

"Are these the things you were telling us to come get at the meeting?" Desmond tried to sound a little bit more sincere. Mr. da Vinci nodded happily.

"We'll wait until _Signora _Stillman arrives so I'll be able to explain them to the both of you," Mr. da Vinci explained. Not long after, Lucy arrived from her last class, apologizing because her teacher had held the class back for being so rowdy. She was easily forgiven as she rushed up to the table. Her shoulder brushed up against Desmond's upon her speedy arrival; he gave a light smile at her (which she returned gladly) but went on in his head cursing the events of a few hours ago. It must've shown on his face, for she quickly withdrew her smile and focused on the equipment on the table before her.

The objects on the table were assorted in organized rows; the smallest and deadly to the left, and the largest but useful to the right. Mr. da Vinci mention they were able to take any of which they wanted; there were pairs of each tool, so it wasn't really first-come-first-serve. He'd even mentioned to them that if they found it necessary, they could take everything that was shown on the table, and they need not to return it after they used it. The duo shared reluctant opinions at first, but they were reassured it was no problem at all. If they did, however, needed repairs, then they were required to pay Mr. da Vinci's full price—no less. He explained to his students that it depended on what kind of damage was done and how much supplies he'd need to use to fix the weapons. For example, a simple, broken Hidden Blade costs an incredible four hundred dollars to fix. Surprisingly, repairs for a broken Hidden Blade weren't as "simple" as it seemed…for a Modern Hidden Blade, that is. The blade was strapped onto the inner padding of the gauntlet (it could be easily removed if you knew how), but the inner workings of the blade itself was more difficult to work with. Sometimes, the blade had to be cut down to the right size for it to fit correctly into the chamber, then it had to be smooth and oiled down enough for it to slide through the chamber or else it'll jam, and finally the blade needs to be tested for its durability and weight. If the blade also had a poison adaption made with it, it would take additional time for the blade to be drilled with a small enough hole to seep through. And this was difficult because with such little space to work within the blade, it's possible for the drill to go crooked and have the hole not in its correct place. Once the damage is done with the drill, it can't be fixed, and a new blade will need to be bought again. Of course, there are the poison dart and pistol adaptations that can be possible as well…all in which can lead up to a very hefty price to renew.

Desmond was reluctant to borrow any of the equipment Mr. da Vinci had laid out before him. He barely had enough money for himself let alone for repairs. And he sure as hell wasn't going to ask his great grandfather for any; he wanted to at least look like he can hold himself together when he needed to. The first thing the duo had grabbed was their double set of Hidden Blades. Each of them had different upgrades done. Lucy offered Desmond one with a hook blade attachment, but he quickly refused. The hook blade wasn't something he could easily adjust to; he imagined in his head he might accidentally stab his opponent too far and the hook blade will get stuck within. This gruesome and troublesome thought kept him away from said weapon. He dealt with one simple Hidden Blade with no attachments, and one with a pistol adaptation. The pistol was indeed loud, but it's not necessarily wise to bring two small blades and no gun to a highly army guarded facility. Desmond tightly strapped both weapons to his forearms and tested out the "reaction times" of the blades when he pulled them out. Impeccable. The blade slid back into the chamber just as quickly and quietly as it came out. A short image of his blade held at Mercer's throat suddenly flashed in Desmond's mind. He hissed slightly and tried to focus on picking his equipment. He tried to distract himself by inspecting a few of the retractable metal batons. Lucy proceeded to ask as many questions possible about every gadget she saw on the table; probably to find out which weapon suit to her needs best.

"…And what about this one? The one Desmond is holding?" Lucy asked.

"Ah, it might be a bit too heavy for you to handle _signora_, it is essentially made up of all metal except for the handle; it might slow down your speed and it takes quite a bit of energy to swing. Though, it makes up for power. It does a good amount of battering power, and knocking hostiles unconscious is quite possible if you know where to hit. For you _signora_, it may be a double-handed weapon. But for _Messere _Miles, he may be strong enough for it to be a single-hand," the teacher explained with ease.

"You should keep that one then, Desmond. You might find it useful," Lucy suggested.

"O-Okay," Desmond didn't bother speaking his own opinion. Lucy's words were a "must-follow" in Desmond's head.

"You should try training with it later on today. Figure out your style with it," Mr. da Vinci spoke all too happily.

"Sure," Desmond shortened the baton and kept it in his hand. It _was _rather heavy, but he promised himself he'll manage. Most of the equipment on the table was absolutely necessary in Desmond's mind as he thought about it. He thought you could never be too careful, but at the same time he was telling himself he was probably being paranoid at what might happen on the mission.

By the time they'd finished picking out their essentials, the table was scattered and disorganized because of them constantly inspecting every trait of the weapons and tools. In the end, they settled for a pair of Hidden Blades each with their respective attributes, a belt filled with a set of fifteen throwing knives (Desmond's with his baton and Lucy's with five smoke bombs), they both had a set of three small special bombs that stuck to any surface and exploded within twenty-five seconds and with a blast power of a hand grenade (surprising since the three bombs easily fit in the palm of their hands). Desmond kept an ebony black folded bow on his back and his quiver across his back as well; he'd learned how to shoot somewhere along Minnesota on his Journey. Lucy kept two short-handed batons that worked similarly like eskrima sticks as well as a medium sized dagger. As for protection, they both decided to take a Kevlar bullet-proof vest under their Assassin's clothing. As they were thanking their teacher for the equipment and taking their leave, a stack of two black backpacks at the end of the table caught Desmond's eye.

"Mr. da Vinci? What are these things?"

"Ah, those are just parachutes _messere,_" Mr. da Vinci mentioned. "They don't seem like they'll be of any use to you on this mission, though." Desmond pondered the use of the parachutes for a while.

"Desmond, come on, let's go. We have enough stuff already," Lucy patted his shoulder.

"I think…I'm going to take one of these, Mr. da Vinci," Desmond spoke slowly. His acquaintances gave him a strange look. "Don't judge me or anything…it's just that I feel like I'm going to need this later…" For once, he managed to ignore Lucy's word of Law.

"I see… Well then, if you believe it will serve you of any use on the mission, then by all means," Mr. da Vinci smiled as he handed over the parachute pack to his student. Lucy merely shrugged with a light smile.

"Alright, if you say so Desmond," she spoke. "Well, it's been a pleasure working with you, Mr. da Vinci."

"The pleasure is all mine _signora!_" He bowed. "I'm assuming I will not be seeing you at class tomorrow?" Lucy shook her head.

"I'm afraid so. Malik informed us that we wouldn't need to be going to our classes since we need to keep our head focused and not on school activities. A little strange logic but it's for our own good if it makes any sense. We'll also need all of our energy for tomorrow."

"I see, how unfortunate," Mr. da Vinci seemed disappointed. He replaced his sadness with a smile. "Forgive me, it's a shame to have two brilliant students not attend my class even just for a day."

"Oh, I don't know about Desmond, but I'm not that good at all with art," Lucy spoke with modesty.

"Nonsense! You're both overflowing with talent of the arts," he said reassuringly. Desmond checked the clock on the wall behind them. He should get to practicing with his equipment before bed as soon as possible. He informed the pair that he was off to train and waved them good-bye. Lucy mentioned she was going to train later as well, after she took care of some business. Desmond nodded and left the classroom.

* * *

><p>He lay on the fairly cool padded floor exhausted. His chest heaved up and down with every breath he took. His tank-top was moist with sweat, as well as his whole body. The white room and bright lights blinded his eyes and his muscles ached over his body. He'd been training for seven hours straight with little to no breaks. Back-to-back VR training, parkour training, close combat training, hand-to-hand combat, archery training, target practice with throwing knives, stealth and sneaking, practice with his baton, and finally a little bit of strength and weight training. He tried not to overwork himself and let his muscles relax a bit by training in the indoor pool (honestly, the underground training facility had <strong>everything<strong>). The last bit of weight training definitely wore him out enough for him to feel dead on the floor.

He turned his attention to the wall clock to his left. It read nine-forty eight at night. He groaned to himself in his private training room. He rolled off his back and onto his stomach, pushing of the floor trying to manage one more push up until finally getting himself up on his feet. He searched through his duffel bag through the various weapons he'd achieved from his art teacher just earlier, being careful not to hurt himself. He pulled out a small red towel and thoroughly rubbed his face and neck. He let it hang around his neck as he hauled his bag over his shoulder. As he thought, he was so sore to keep it over his shoulder. He tilted his shoulder down and let the strap of the bag slide down to his hand. He decided to lug the duffel bag to the elevator until he was outside of the school. He'll carry it the rest of the way to his dorm after that.

Desmond lazily dragged the bag behind him, careful around corners and bumps, making sure he doesn't damage any of his tools inside. The elevator dinged as it approached to a stop on the ground floor. Taking a breath, he mustered up what was left of his strength and pulled the heavy bag off the ground as he exited the elevator. His first step out of the school and into the dark night hit him with a gentle relaxing breeze. He took a deep breath and exhaled, noticing his breath was visible from his mouth. He hadn't realized it was so cold. If anything, the cool air felt refreshing. He gripped his duffel bag tightly and began his was to the boy's dormitory.

About three fourths of the way there his hand had begun to get sore. It was either because he was gripping way too hard, or the bag was just too heavy. Either way, the bag wearing out his arm again, so he decided to take a short rest. Desmond began to wonder why the boy's dormitory was so far away from the school's main building. It didn't matter in the end since he could see the building of the dormitory just a few yards away (twenty, to be exact). He spotted a lush willow with its vine flowing in the breeze. A rather entrancing sight, he'd thought to himself, but paid no mind to it and made his way to the trunk. He placed his equipment near the base of the trunk and took a seat next to it. He leaned back against the tree and took another deep breath, releasing a white puff of air from his mouth. Before he decided to relax, he opened up his duffel bag and some stuff he could probably wear to lessen the weight of the bag. The only things he could think of that weren't conspicuous at night was his belt of throwing knives and his baton. He was glad the knives were painted black and the retracted metal was hidden behind the black handle of the baton. He was sure they wouldn't be very reflective in the moonlight. He dropped the belt on the ground next to him; he would put it on when he got up later, he thought.

"…_Ah, fuck…_" The words trailed of his mouth as he relaxed in the night air. Desmond enjoyed the moment of peace. No birds or bugs were making any noise, the wind wasn't too strong, and the grass was soft and comfortable. He could get used to this. Maybe from now on he could do this everyone in a while. Just take a seat under the willow and listen to the wind. A sanity check could be good for him once in a while. What with working at Bad Weather to take care of, and the stress of school and the fees to pay off.

The vines flowed and cracked softly here and there, somehow leaving Desmond drowsy. He presumed it was only ten-fifteen. He could spend a little time here before he goes back to his dorm for a shower and a real rest. He slowly let his eyelids fall and angled his head against the tree trunk. The air cradled him and left him relaxed. He let sleep take over his mind and body.

_Snap! _His glowing white-blue eyes flew open. The world was a dark blue around him, and the moon shined independently light. _Snap! _The sounds we loud and distinct as Desmond reached for his belt and readied three throwing knives. He found his target, bright red in the blue darkness, hanging onto the nimble branches of the tree. Desmond threw his knives with dead-on accuracy, only to be deflected and knocked out of the air. The knives stuck into the grass around him as he cursed to himself. He reached for his belt on the ground and managed to pull out three more knives. He readied himself by keeping them in the spaces of his fingers. Desmond wanted to scream out, telling the enemy to come down and quit being such a pussy. He wanted to call out a name. Blackwatch, Templar, _Mercer_. Any name. But he couldn't. The night was silent and calling out a title would surely wake and draw people's attention and not only that if he had gotten it wrong, he would probably be deemed stupid by the assailant.

The red figure leapt from the tree and headed towards Desmond. He tried to aim and hit them in the air, but they were only knocked back again, leaving Desmond unarmed and knocked down into the dirt full force by the enemy. Their face was hooded and covered with a rather plain mask that had nothing on it but two slits for the eyes. The assailant twirled their knife before holding it downward and thrusted it toward Desmond's chest. He caught the enemy's forearms and attempted to press back. He was confused; the person's arm was slim, and their body was strangely light. But their strength was something else. Desmond was close to being able to disarm the opponent, until they began pushing all their weight into the knife. Because they'd started to stand and press all their weight in front of them, it gave Desmond an advantage to be able to get the attacker off of him. He shifted his weight under them and attempted to flip them over with no such luck. They began to press their knee into Desmond's chest and turned their attention to get at Desmond's throat.

"_Fuck!_" Desmond thought. "_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" _ Being tired from training and having worn out his muscles had begun to take a toll on him. His arms had started to shake and his hands began to feel sweaty. Losing his grip on their arm right now was definitely not an option. The knife neared his throat and Desmond began to panic. His vision faded from blue back to the dark black night. The time and movements around him slowed.

"S-stop it," he stuttered. "Get the fuck off of me!"

The weight on his chest lifted within a second. He focused his eyes and he found out he was staring up into the branches of the willow. The assailant was just above him earlier, and he was definitely sure of himself that he wasn't dreaming.

Then, a sharp crack echoed throughout his ears. The willow vines shook above him as leaves floated to the ground. Everything was a blur. Desmond leisurely rolled off his back and onto his stomach, peering through the dark at the tree trunk. The masked stranger was being held up against the willow by the throat, gripping onto the arm that was choking them. They were being held up by a man who had strange small red wings on his back, who was now using his free hand to rip off the grip of the stranger. He tightened his hand around their forearm until a dull snap was heard. The assaulter let out a piercing shriek before they were thrown aside through the vines of the willow and out of sight. Desmond's head began to grow foggy and his eye's felt heavy. His head fell to the ground with his last sight being the pointed shoes of Desmond's "savior."

He could feel his body being rolled over again onto his back before he felt hands sliding from underneath his body and legs. He was lifted up into the air and was kept close to the man's body. The man smelled faintly of spicy cinnamon mixed in with the wind. The man walked out from the inside of the willow and under the moonlight where the wind had blown a bit cooler. The temperature hit Desmond and slightly roused him. He forced his eyes to open and look up at the man's face. He wanted to know who he was being carried by. He wanted to know who appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night and rammed the attacked against a tree and broke their arm. He needed to know who had saved him. He looked up only to find cold, stern, ice-blue eyes staring back at him from under a dark hood. The man's mouth began to move slowly, with a low, quiet whisper.

"_It's not safe to stay out after dark, kitten._"

Desmond's eyes began to fail him once more, and he was finally left to knock out. The deep and sincere voice along with the smell of spicy cinnamon stuck with Desmond the whole night.

* * *

><p>…To be continued in Chapter VII<p>

-EDIT-

I fixed that dumb "Century BOB punching bag" reference... ugh it bugged me when I first typed it up too. =_= I'm glad I finally decided to get rid of it .

-END EDIT-

Strider's Babbles: HELLO!~ I AM BACK, YES? A few things to explain in this chapter as well! First before I get to explaining, I'd like to apologize for my last chapter. v_v it was rushed fairly quickly because I wanted to get a chapter out to you guys as soon as possible! I hurried the writing and right when I finished I published it. I went back to read the chapter and guess what? _GRAMMAR ERRORS EVERYWHERE_. Please forgive me :[ I didn't mean to write so sloppily. This chapter probably has a ton of grammar/spelling errors as well so please don't be mad at me :[ I get very impatient with editing…

Onto questions! What are "Eskrima Sticks?" Well Eskrima is a fighting style that originated in the Philippines that involved two sticks as weapons. My old martial arts class used to teach it, but I never tried v_v

Also! If you're wondering about why Alex smells like Spicy Cinnamon, well, I couldn't really find a way to describe the scent I had in my head ^^;; I'm sorry.

Finally! Not an answer to any question but I'd just like to point out that near the end of the chapter it's _sort of _like those "rescue the princess" kind of things. Kinda like "OH NO SHE'S GETTING BULLIED BY A TON OF OTHER JEALOUS GIRLS. I BET THE MAIN GUY IS GONNA SAVE HER. YEP OF COURSE HE DOES." I _DID _want to do something like that, but I didn't want it to be all stupid and like "Oh no, Desmond's going to get raped!" or something because think about it guys, he's an _Assassin_. He should know how to defend himself. So, I had him have the liberty of trying to fight back. Come on guys. Desmond's not helpless :P

ALRIGHT! THANKS FOR READING! I hope you stick around for the next chapter! Who is the mysterious attacker? :O and How is the mission with Gentek and Abstergo meeting going to turn out? I hope you can be patient enough with me to find out! ^^ I _might _give a little preview before the chapter is out just to compensate for my unusual updates… Anyway, time to eat dinner! Bye!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII

His arms and face were moist and he smelled strongly of sweat; somehow he still gave off a somewhat pleasant smell. The young man who'd fainted just a few minutes before looked surprisingly well relaxed after what had just transpired.

Alex squinted into the darkness and surveyed the area. A few knives stuck into the grass near a suspicious, open, black bag. Alex's curiosity couldn't have been more encouraging. He circled the duffel bag, picking up the throwing knives around him with his tendrils, and gingerly pulled back the opening of the bag to get a better look of its contents. Alex raised an eyebrow.

_Well, well, well... Black Kevlar, a folded bow with a quiver full of arrows, bombs, knives...looks like Kitty's got a few play-toys... _Alex furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He looked back at the relaxed young man who was sleeping in his arms. _But why would he need such things? _Alex can understand the late night runs in the city and _maybe _the vigilante-esque business he did in that alleyway the other night...but _bombs? _Alex chuckled to himself. Either this Kitten is some sort of terrorist, or he's taking the "vigilante" thing to a whole new level.

Alex picked up the belt strap nearby with his tendrils and slipped each throwing knife carefully back into place. In the same manner, he situated the belt of knives deep into the bag that was crowded with bulky equipment. He decided that he'll please his curiosity later by exploring the contents of the bag within the confines of Desmond's dorm. Zipping up the cover, Alex managed to slip the bag over his shoulder without stirring the young man in front of him.

A question racked through his brain as he made his way across the grass. _Who exactly was that person who attacked Desmond? _Their face was covered with a mask, but their slim body frame and light weight suggested the attacker was a woman. A woman who apparently knew what she was doing. Their scent was vaguely familiar...and their voice... Alex couldn't help but suddenly grin. The sound of a bone snapping and the scream of terror surely was satisfying to him in a way. Sure enough, that would teach them to try and lay hands on little Kitty here...

Alex stopped.

_That would _teach _them? _He thought. A lingering silence passed before he forced himself to confess another question that had appeared in his brain.

_Why did he care? _

His grip tightened slightly on the man before him as he rode the elevator of the dorm room to Desmond's floor.

_Why was he acting like some kind of hero? _

The elevator dinged as he cautiously walked out.

_Why did he protect someone he barely knew? _

Alex stood outside the door of Desmond's dorm room. He carefully took Desmond's wallet from the duffel bag side pocket and searched for his key card.

_Why be protective of some human anyway?_

Alex fumbled with the key card in his hand, clumsily dropping it. He cursed under his breath as he cautiously bent down to pick it back up.

_Why? _

Alex nearly crushed the thin piece of plastic in his hand as he stood up and swiftly swiped the key card and slipped inside. He didn't dare to continue such line of thought. He shoved it out of his mind and proceeded to put the exhausted young man to bed. Alex pulled a thin blanket over Desmond's shoulders, not bothering to go as far as tucking him in. Alex walked to the front of the bed and shrugged off the hefty bag of equipment. He sneaked a quick peek at the digital clock on the end table ahead of him. Ten-fifteen p.m. He guessed he could reward himself with a thorough examination with the contents of the duffel bag. There was something that had caught his eye earlier before...

With a quick swipe, he unzipped the opening, weary of the sound that escaped from the zipper. Desmond showed no signs of awakening. He guessed the young man had quite the work out to be this tired. Alex focused back on the bag. He searched around the inside, past the belt of knives and strange metal baton, until his hand traced over bumpy, rough, padding. Slowly, he pulled out a deep black, stiff plastic gauntlet-like accessory which was as long as his forearm. The strange item had wide Velcro straps on the back side of it, and on the inner side was a flat, white, metal casing that had a long slit run through the middle of it. It was almost as long as the gauntlet itself, but thinner. Alex's fingers gingerly trailed along the metal shaft, up to a small strap that hung at the narrower end of the gauntlet. He tugged at it playfully, until he heard a sudden _click_. Close to the tip of his nose, a lengthy, slender, sharp blade poked out a few centimeters away from him. Alex bit back a startled grunt. He was unsure on whether to throw the item across the room for scaring him or crushing the whole thing altogether in his grip. Alex heated slightly at his cheeks. It didn't scare him...it "caught him off guard." As Alex slowly let up on the small strap at the end of the gauntlet, the deadly blade responded in the same manner, slowly hiding back in its narrow chamber. He shoved the object back into the bag and moved it down to the foot of the bed. He sighed as folded his arms and pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched his eyes. He glanced back at Desmond who rustled around under the sheets. He let out a short chuckle and shook his head. Whatever this little Kitty is getting himself into, Alex was sure it was to be something worthy of his attention. He then let out a sigh as his face fell with a light smile.

_Just as long as he doesn't get hurt. _

* * *

><p>A distant jingle rang, it's sound ascending in volume, much to Desmond's annoyance. He felt weak all around, but managed to force his eyes open in search for the source. It was coming from the front of the bed. He let the jingle continue for a few more verses, hoping it would cease, only to be annoyed even more when he realizes the high pitch song won't stop. He reluctantly pulled himself up and sat in his bed. He felt sticky and certainly uncomfortable, he smelled of stale sweat and his mouth was filled with the taste of his own breath.<p>

"Eugh..." Desmond gagged. He couldn't stand being so...filthy. Desmond threw off his rather stiff tank top and let his upper body breathe. As far as he was concerned, clothes were unnecessary in his domain. He'd throw off his sweats too, if it weren't for such drowsiness that lingered over him. He crawled across his bed to find the source of the noise. Blinking his eyes, he looked down and his duffel bag came into focus. He vaguely remembered his cellphone was shoved in one of the side pockets of the bag. That must've been the source of his unwanted wake up call. Desmond reached down and pulled out his earpiece as well as his cellphone. He clicked the answer button after he attached his earpiece.

"Hello?" Desmond answered groggily.

"Desmond! About bloody time you woke up," Shaun spoke in his ear. Desmond checked the clock on his phone.

"It's five-forty in the morning," Desmond stated.

"You don't say?" Shaun replied sarcastically. "Hurry up and get ready. Meet up with Rebecca at the front gate of school. She'll drive you down to our rendezvous point before we start the mission." Desmond rolled over onto his back and looked up to the ceiling.

"What about Lucy?" Desmond yawned.

"Uh, change of plans with Lucy, sadly," Shaun spoke with genuine sadness. "She won't be joining us on this mission." Desmond quickly sat up in surprise.

"What? Why not? What happened?"

"I can't tell you that right now, sorry. You'll have to take that up with Rebecca when you see her. Right now I want to you get your arse up and ready. You're going in the mission alone today and I want you fully focused."

"Yes sir," Desmond lazily saluted as he hung up. Tossing his earpiece and phone aside, he rubbed the back of his neck before standing up and making his way to the bathroom. _Lucy backed out on the mission? No, she wouldn't back out...there's a logical explanation to this...there has to be..._

* * *

><p>"Hey Desmond! There you are!" Rebecca perked up from the side of her car. A small, tomato red mini cooper with multiple scratches and a couple of dents which she liked to call her "Honey Bug" or "Honey" for short. Rebecca was out of her school uniform and sporting her favorite headphones and her red glove, along with her olive drab vest and pants. She opened up the trunk of her small car and snapped her fingers.<p>

"Alright let's get going. You can toss your stuff in the back and then get ready when we get to the factory," she explained.

"The factory?"

"Yeah, it's abandoned, but it's still in pretty good shape on the inside. Not to dusty and I'm pretty sure there aren't _too _many creepy crawlies," Rebecca said with a grin as she slid into the driver's seat. Desmond shivered in disgust as he rolled up the sleeves of his new hoodie above his forearms.

It was a well designed jacket, Desmond was sure of that. The back of it had the same etching of wings on the back his other hoodie had; the one he wore on his Journey. The insides of the jacket were a deep, scarlet red, and the collar of it reached up far enough to the bottom of his nose. The fabric was thinner, and had small ventilation holes at his oblique sides. Zippers laced the front pockets, useful for keeping small items from falling out when he's running around and scaling walls.

"Oh yeah, hey, what happened to Lucy?" Desmond remembered. Rebecca pursed her lips as she drove off the campus.

"She had a small accident in the training rooms. Messed up in the Parkour Facilities and broke her arm," Rebecca sighed. "It's a surprise I know, but we all make mistakes sometimes, so it makes sense. I just wish she would've been more careful...and this had to happen the day before the mission too!" Desmond furrowed his eyebrows.

"I see..." he said as he looked out the car window. "She broke her arm...?" Desmond repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah. Pretty badly too. It might take a while for her to recover. I mean, sure she won't have problems with mobility, but the big boss-slash-chairman guy doesn't want anyone with medical problems going out on any missions. Kind of a policy I guess. 'Medical leave,'" Rebecca's voice shrunk as she muttered to herself. She had a habit of doing that when she was nervous.

The rest of the drive passed in silence until they pulled up on the graveled parking lot of the abandoned factory. _Gloomy_, was all Desmond could think about when he laid eyes on it. Dull shades of gray were apparent on the rocky floor, in the rolling clouds above, and on the run down factory before him. He didn't mind it as much, the longer he looked at it though; there weren't many people walking around or any cars honking wildly. No, it was rather secluded and quite peaceful with a few birds here and there.

"Wow, you guys picked a nice place," Desmond finally said. Rebecca's usual grin reappeared.

"You think? Shaun picked it out. Pretty good choice in 'hiding in plain sight,' I'll give the guy that," she said as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Wait here, I'm gonna go in real quick and roll up the garage so we can park inside."

"Alright," Desmond said as she jogged to the heavy entrance door. She pressed a few buttons on the keypad above the door handle before the pulled the door open and slipped inside. Desmond let out a sigh. He didn't notice it before, but his hand were shaking a little over his legs. He roughly gripped his pants as his shaking refused to stop. He'd never felt so nervous before. Nervous, with a bit of fear mixing in with it. He let go of his pant legs and lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was he acting so strange? He'd considered himself fairly well with sneaking. He was able to sneak past his fellow assassin's who were trying to drag him back to Black Hills many times before, so what made _this _so different? It was just an sneaking and infiltration mission, that's all! That's all...

And then it dawned to him. He remembered Altaïr's words back at the office yesterday.

_"If you are breached, you are to use whatever means to escape..."_ His words echoed in his mind. The words of Ezio from the day before resurfaced as well.

_"I'd prefer you not kill any enemies you encounter, but if it cannot be avoided, then do as you must." _Desmond rubbed his temples and rested his elbows on his knees. _Blood_, he thought. _Crimson red, warm, and downright creepy_. He'd never needed to take the life of another being before. He had never even thought about it; it never crossed his mind. Sure, he was aware that he was an _Assassin, _and _Assassin's kill people,_ but he never thought he would be faced with such assignment that could potentially have him wisp away one's life in the blink of an eye so early on. His Journey from Black Hills to New York didn't even require him any bloodshed; he couldn't bear to think of ending the lives of his fellow assassins. Not even if they were trying all they could to drag him back to the feet of his father.

He quickly wiped the cold sweat that was trailing down his forehead. There was no point in complaining about taking one's life now. He mentally slapped himself. _You are an Assassin, _he thought. _Fucking act like one._ The mission procedure had already begun, and with this one, he'd have to go in alone. He didn't mind it as much, he preferred to work on the field alone anyway. Not that he was saying that having Lucy tag along would only be a hindrance. Desmond thought of it more in a way like, a solo job would be more efficient, because he wouldn't have to worry every ten seconds for his partner on whether they were still alive or not. He thought, that if it was just his back that he'd have to watch, it would be for the best. He'd rather have himself be caught and alone, rather than be caught and have his teammates be dragged down with him.

The thought of blood pooling around him crept into his thoughts. Desmond immediately began to feel dizzy. He gingerly remembered the design of his assigned hidden blade. Didn't it come with a pair of gloves, or something? It just had a strap that went between in thumb and index finger, and that was it. Nothing to protect his hands from the texture of blood dripping upon it, and nothing to protect his fingertips from leaving traces behind on various objects. Desmond hoped that Shaun or at least Rebecca would magically have a pair waiting for him inside the factory. Desmond pulled the windows down from inside the car and let the cold, morning air revive him. He focused on trying not to hurl in Rebecca's precious car. He looked around, cleared his mind of blood pools and lifeless bodies, and analyzed the scenery outside around him.

He wasn't sure where the sun was, exactly. The gray, rolling, overcast clouds obscured his view of the sky. He wondered if it might rain later on. He noticed the tree leaves losing their vibrant green color and slowly fading to more calmer shades of yellow, orange and red. He noticed the light breeze weaving and combing their way through the tree branches...

Streaks of black and red were swiftly painted across the dull sky, and then, as if they were shy when eyes laid upon them, they disappeared. Quickly, faded away from eyesight. What? Where had it landed? What creature was it that had created such a spectacle? There! Again! A flicker of something red and raven black from behind the small shacks that sat across the factory! Maybe it was some kind of bug? No, an insect that size would be terrifying. Maybe a bird, perhaps? But, Desmond could think of no bird that left such streaks in the air.

Desmond grumbled to himself. Great. Not only was he having the ultimate paranoia and nervous breakdown, he was also going insane. He bent down and rested his forehead on his knees. He was startled a few minutes after to hear the car door suddenly swinging open, only to be relieved that it was just Rebecca returning from what seemed like an hour long trip.

"Alright! Let's park this little baby inside so we can get down to business!" She started her car again. Desmond took a breath and let out a shaky laugh.

"'To defeat the Huns?'"

"Haha, you could say. Though I don't think the Huns were Templars," she said as she slowly reversed into the abandoned factory. "I don't think you could say the Templars would team up with the Huns either."

* * *

><p>He patted down his jacket over his kevlar. A bit uncomfortable, but he'd rather have it and not need it, than not have it and need it. He strapped down his belt full of his throwing knives and retractable baton on his hip. On the opposite side, he kept his folded bow. The parachute hugged his back, and below that, the quiver of arrows pressed against him.<p>

Desmond wasn't sure about trying to sneak around with such bulky equipment on, but now wasn't the time to be having second thoughts...he told himself for the thousandth time. Time and time again, he'd un-strap his gauntlets and re-strap them as they were before. He took a deep breath as he pulled his hood over his head. A pat on his back caused him to stiffen.

"I'm going to start the briefing soon," Shaun said with a solemn face. "It won't be long. The plan is essentially you getting information out of this secret meeting, so a majority of this mission will depend on your actions." Rebecca passed Desmond his earpiece after making sure it was fully charged and impeccable. She pressed her headphones against her ears right after.

"Me 'n Shaun have you back the whole way. Well, not physically as Lucy should've, but you know," her voice uneasily trailed off. "We'll be guiding you the whole way."

"Just remember to leave all the puzzle-solving and decision-making to _me,_" Shaun followed. He pulled out a thin roll of slated metal, with a single, wide blue circle in the middle as he unfolded it. The Gentek building hovered above the metal platform, translucent and a light sky blue.

"The meeting will start at around nine-fifty to ten-fifteen a.m. It's only seven-twenty five a.m. right now, but you'll have to arrive at your destination early and wait in the meeting room before the meeting will actually start," Shaun explained. "It would be a lot easier if you'd sit and wait for the meeting to happen, rather than actually trying to sneak your way in during the whole meeting. You'll be less noticeable this way." The hovering image zoomed in to the base of the building, conjuring up thick, concrete walls that were patrolled by soldiers of Blackwatch. Desmond peered at them, his face twisted in confusion and disgust. He questioned in his head why anyone would protect such a sick organization that's involved with the Templars. He anticipated corruption. The idea of being able to have immense power; such greed would, of course, pass by the men of Blackwatch. If only they weren't stupid enough to believe it.

"These BW soldiers are surprisingly easy people to fool," Rebecca pulled up a hovering picture of a man in his gear, his face covered with an eerie gasmask. "If you look normal enough to be human, you're pretty much off the hook for almost anything out on the streets. Just make sure not to bump into them or something...they give nasty shoves..." Rebecca gingerly rubbed her arm. "Anyway, like I said, patrolling out in the streets, the BW are easy to fool. However, at the base of Gentek is sort of like a substitute Military Base. They'll be more aware of your actions, considering a civilian can't be in the Base. There are a lot of military equipment waiting to be hauled around, and large trucks are just sitting here and there for transported goods. These can be put to good use for trying to sneak in."

"I'm guessing the front door is..." Desmond started.

"Heavily guarded," Shaun and Rebecca replied. Desmond pursed his lips. _Of course it is, _he thought. The holographic plate showed a 3D floor plan of the outside of the Gentek Building. With a swish of his wrist, Shaun rotated the hovering blue plans.

"Right here," he showed Desmond the west side of the building. "There's a large Air-Con vent that feeds from the machine itself and into the building. Since it's pretty much in the middle of autumn, it's safe to say they won't be using it any time soon." The hologram zoomed in on the air condition vent. "I'm sure you'll be able to get the vent opened with your Hidden Blade? Undo a few screws and you're in." Desmond popped his Hidden Blade out from its chamber.

"And if that doesn't work?" Desmond asked. Shaun shook his head.

"Always the pessimistic one, aren't you?"

"You should know by now that Shaun is always prepared, Des," Rebecca gave a half smile, and then turned back to her computer.

"It's close to neanderthal, but the only other way you can pass through such air-tight security is having to dress up and play nice with the other employees. Then, when you think you're in the clear, walk in with them," Shaun explained. "I strongly suggest an employee, though. Not easy sneaking in as a BW soldier. Too much unknown vernacular and secret phrases they could use to weed you out as a black sheep. Besides, the Gentek building has new scientists coming in and out everyday studying and utilizing the equipment given to by Abstergo."

"So, kill an amateur scientist, steal his identity and sneak in?" Desmond clarified.

"Well, as far as the Creed goes, we can't spill blood of the innocent, and for all we know, these scientists could just be using valuable resources that are nearby. They could have nothing to do with Templars," Shaun explained. "Just bring one in the shadows, knock him out, and assume his persona. Once you're inside the building, we'll work from there." Desmond nodded and adjusted his hood.

"Then let's get started."

* * *

><p>He couldn't have heard that right. They said it many times, but he couldn't believe it. <em>Blackwatch, <em>he heard them say. His face twisted. _Gentek, _he heard them say. He crushed the metal railing beneath him. He watched as they waved off the young tan man as he took to a sprint out of the old factory. He shook his head in were they going to prove, sneaking into such dangerous waters that could possible cost them _their lives? _And what the hell was that little talk about some _Creed? _Did they actually mention _killing _people? He didn't understand why they would involve themselves with such a corrupt business. He didn't understand why Desmond needed to sneak _into _the building where Alex knows he would be potentially get slaughtered. Or possibly _worse._ One thing Alex knew best was to always expect the worst whenever Blackwatch was involved.

Alex slipped out of the factory through a large broken window and landed out on the pebbles with a loud thud. He looked around to make sure he didn't disturb the setting around him before he crouched low to the floor. With all his might, he extended his legs and ascended up into the air, high above small factory. Pressing his body forward, he glided through the air, letting the cool wind brush his pale skin. Being alone was one thing Alex enjoyed, due to mutant genetics, but sometimes being left alone is when he's at his worst.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he scaled up the ninety degree angled building and flipped up onto the rooftop. At the top, he could barely see the pointed antenna of the Gentek Building. His fists were clenched tight, and his breathing was heavy. He didn't know what Desmond or his friends were getting themselves involved with, but he sure wasn't going to let Desmond run in blindly to his death. Hell, he'd saved his damned life just the night before, and now he's off to do another stunt? He's lucky to even be alive right now if Alex hadn't intervened that night. Alex couldn't quite put his finger on why he was bothering on keeping this mere human alive; he had a different routine that the others, that's for sure. Running around at night, working at a small jazz nightclub, running back to school and studying like a real student, and then walking across the school campus with a sack of dangerous weapons; Alex was almost certain he doesn't do the last bit very often. But for whatever reason he's trying throwing his life away today, Alex will be sure to keep him from doing so. After all, he enjoyed teasing him and watching the young man turn a deep shade of red.

His mind went back to the day he took his teasing rather too far. He gingerly traced his lips. Sighing, his lips tugged into a smile. _It was on impulse, _he convinced himself. He wasn't really thinking when it happened. All he knew was that his feet had moved on their own, bringing him closer to the flustered young man. He vaguely remembered on deciding to fully close the gap himself. It was out of nowhere—the kiss—he admitted it, but he would also go as far as to admit that he rather enjoyed it. Even though it was a bit short, it shamefully (or shame_lessly_) left him with quite the hard-on. It wasn't so much as the kiss that brought it up, though. No, it was more of the actions _after _the kiss. It was cute seeing Desmond so full of determination for revenge. Alex didn't mind letting him _try_ to inflict pain on him. Like he said, _it was cute._ After all, it wasn't nearly as bad as the crap he was put through by being a lab rat for those Gentek Quacks...

In less than five minutes, Alex arrived at the rooftop of the southern building that neighbored Gentek. Down in the corner, he could hear an intruder alarm wailing and flashing yellow at his arrival. He took four steps backwards until the edge of the rooftop blocked his view of the alarm, and only then did the wailing stop. He rolled his eyes. BW equipment was top-notch alright...that is, if you're in range of it. Be out of radius and those alarms are completely useless. He glanced up at an oblivious BW soldier that was patrolling on a nearby rooftop. With a quick flick of his arm, it was soon writhing with a black and red mass that transformed it into a whiplash. He curved his arm and launched his whip, straight for the BW's helmet, and swiftly pulled him into his own body. The biomass surrounded him and rearranged his appearance to look that of the BW soldier just before. The BW's memories informed him of his name, rank, and mission. Next to Alex's feet was a regular sized M-16. As he bent down to pick it up, he could hear a faint whir of sound from behind him. He turned around and sent his whiplash straight across the sky, destroying the UAV Cypher. _Uh-oh_, he thought. _If these things are floating around, then little Kitten is going to have a tough time moving around here... _He checked his wristwatch. Depending on the speed he would be running, it would probably take Desmond twenty minutes to get here on foot. _That's more than enough time, _Alex thought to himself. He slung the rifle across his back and cracked his knuckles.

_Looks like I've got a little work to do, _he thought. _Have to prepare a few things before Kitten arrives... _

* * *

><p>...To be continued in Chapter VIII.<p>

Strider's Babbles: Hooray for an update! Okay okay okay, I know, I suck at keeping promises. :[ I know I promised to update more often but WEH. It's hard for me to write down my first draft in school since my teachers this year are very observant... v_v But WOW is this chapter long! Well, it's certainly not as long as other fanfic chapters out there, but it's rather long for me :D So I hope you're happy with that! Though, I know I'm holding out on the Protocreed Love here, please bear with me. Your patience will be rewarded! ...AND PLEASE BELIEVE IN THAT PROMISE. -is shot-

Now I'll be honest, and forgive me, but I forgot what things I was planning to talk about in this chapter. You know, just in case you guys get confused on something ^^;; One thing that I _do _remember though, it what Desmond's job is. In a previous chapter, I typed out that Desmond worked as a BARISTA, when actually, he's just a regular BARTENDER (a barista is someone who specializes in making espressos and such). And so I accidentally ended up changing Bad Weather into a coffee-house... I don't know if it helped, but I tried changing it a bit into a Jazz Nightclub? Although I might revise that previous chapter altogether... Which reminds me:

**THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT! **I don't care if I only have double-digit reviews, favs, and followers of this fanfic, I LOVE YOU ALL FOR EVEN BOTHERING TO CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS. I'd also like to thank **berkie88 **for informing me of a few loopholes that are in my fanfic so far. This just further proves that I need help with some beta-ing ^^;; But, as for a personal reply to **berkie 88**:

Thank you very much for your critique! This is obviously my very first online fanfiction so I'm VERY grateful for having you ask these questions. I'll be sure to elaborate on the points you're confused on just so everyone is also on the same page!

**If anyone else is confused with any loopholes in my fanfiction, feel free to write a review/critique about it so I can revise it! Thank you again! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Warning! Depictions of GORE ahead!**

Chapter VIII

Desmond perched himself at the east side of the Gentek building, scouring the grounds with his unique white-blue eyes. A cold chill shook his spine. _Where are all the guards? _He couldn't figure out why, but there was severe lacking in number of BW soldiers that were out patrolling the Gentek grounds. The rooftops were empty, and the troops below him seemed frantic, having their guns pressed against their shoulders and wildly spinning at every turn. Desmond could hear their airy shouting from the gas masks.

"Where the hell is he? Where _is _he?!" One of them shouted. "Spread out and find him!"

"No! Stick together! If we spread out, he could pick us off!" Another shouted back.

"Goddammit, what are you all fucking scared of! Find ZEUS, kill it, end of story!" A BW soldier in white exclaimed. He shouted up at the skies. "You hear that, ZEUS?! You're as good as dead!"

"We can't kill him..." A BW grunt dropped his rifle and clutched his helmet. "We can't kill him. _He's already dead!"_

"We need to stick together!"

"I order you you find and kill the target!"

"Why the hell are you trying to split us up?! Don't you understand? That's what he _wants_!" The BW soldier was shoved by the one in white.

"Watch your voice, grunt! Don't forget, I'm your Commanding Officer! And ZEUS isn't a _'he,' _ZEUS is an _'it!'_" The grunt swiped away the other's hand.

"Bullshit!" He shoved a pointed finger at his superior's face. "You _want _us to be separated! You want us all _dead!_"

"What the hell are you trying to say?!" In a matter of seconds, the barrel of the BW troop's gun is pointed directly at his superior.

"IT'S _YOU! _YOU'RE ZEUS," he said as his peers immediately brought their rifles up and directed it towards their Commanding Officer. "I KNOW IT. IT'S FUCKING YOU." The BW soldier in white frantically watched the guns being pointed in his direction as his squad circled in on him and hesitantly stepped backwards.

"N-no, no! Wait!" His back was kicked and he was forced back to the middle of the circle. Shots echoed throughout the courtyard as the BW Commander dropped on his knees, then fell on his face. The BW soldier who called the patsy reached for his radio and mumbled something in it before ordering his peers to bring the limp body inside the Gentek building.

"Roger that, request to send in replacements granted, over," the voice from the radio buzzed. The BW soldier watched as the others dragged the corpse up into the entrance of the building, leaving a blurred trail of blood behind.

"Desmond, are you alright?" Desmond nearly jumped, hearing Rebecca's voice so close to him. He rolled his eyes at himself and pressed at his earpiece.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The BW over here are all antsy for some reason...they just _gunned down _their Commanding Officer and dragged his body out of view like it was nothing special," Desmond huffed. "I don't understand. How can they be so relentless against each other?" He heard Shaun give a snide laugh.

"Blackwatch," he spoke. "Probably the most ignorant and most expensive military branch there is." Desmond kept his eyes on the lone BW soldier who stood out in the courtyard. He wrinkled his eyebrows and strained his ears. Could he hear him..._laughing? _

"Desmond! Get a move on, now. Hurry it up," Shaun snapped Desmond back to his senses. "Now the tracker in your earpiece says you're on the east side of the building, correct? It's about almost eight o' clock, but no rush. Take your time... Well obviously don't take all your precious time."

"He knows his job, dumbass," Rebecca replied over the mic.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just that sometimes he can get forgetful-"

"Guys," Desmond spoke firmly. "Com chatter?"

"Right, sorry," Shaun cleared his throat. "Yes, so the east side of the building. It makes sense for you to arrive there considering the direction from the factory to there. Wow, the building looks more deserted that I thought."

"How can you tell?"

"Sorry Des, I forgot to mention that the earpiece I gave you also has a camera in it. We need to see what you're seeing," Rebecca spoke, as Desmond hopped the buildings and made his way to the west side.

"How in the world did you manage to fit a tracker _and _a camera in this tiny earpiece?" Desmond whispered.

"Isn't technology _amazing_?" Was all Rebecca said. Desmond rolled his eyes as he carefulled made his way off the roofs and in front of the caged off area that held the dead air conditioning machines. He searched around and made sure he hadn't disturbed the air. No one arrived. He looked back at the chain link fenced off area and noticed the door to the cage, locked with a keypad over the handle.

"Even their precious air conditioners need to be properly protected," Shaun mumbled. Desmond took a breath and closed his eyes. As he exhaled, he opened his eyes and the world around him was blue once more. He watched his six and made sure there were no people behind him before turning back to the keypad. Clacking from a keyboard came from the earpiece.

"Don't worry, Des. I'll figure out the what the keys are in a sec-"

"The keys pressed are four, six, nine and zero," Desmond stated casually.

"How..." Rebecca's voice trailed off before coming to realization. "Oooh yeah, right. Gotcha. Your Eagle...thing... So, we've got the numbers but you only named four; the keypad screen looks like it can fit five." Desmond inspected the keypad, analyzing the glowing red fingerprints that pulsed, then faded. His eyes were drawn to the fourth key, which was smuged and glowing slightly brighter and the others.

"Four. Key four, it was pressed twice," he pressed against his ear piece.

"Alright then, Mr. Smarty-Pants, in what order?" Shaun spoke. Desmond hesitantly brought up his hand and brushed his fingertips along the keys, feeling the braille bumps along each of them. The strong hue of blue drained away from the world as it returned to its original colors. He settled his finger on the ninth key before carefully pressing it. Nothing. He pressed it again. A third time. He ran his whole palm against all the keys. The red screen above the keypad was blank.

"I don't know about you, but I'd expect a noise or the number to show up or something," Shaun stated. Furrowing his eyebrows, Desmond gripped the door handle and twisted it down. With a click, the lock released and the gate door opened. He quickly slipped inside and took shelter in the shadows of the large machines. He muttered to himself as he searched for his entrance to the building.

"I could've just tried to open it in the first place..." He mumbled.

"Still, you can't deny that was a tad strange," Shaun spoke from the earpiece.

"I'm checking the problem right now. It looks like some of Gentek's power is out; twenty-five percent, actually," Rebecca stated. "Most of Gentek's power supply comes from solar energy, but right now it seems like it's running from an accumulated power source...one that's only used for emergencies I guess, if something bad went down."

"What the hell happened here for Gentek to be in such a scramble?" Desmond asked quietly, as he searched for an air duct into the building.

"I remember something from when you were up on the roofs," Shaun spoke up. "Didn't you see? The roofs were completely void of...well, everything actually."

"Yeah, there weren't any guards patrolling the skies," Desmond replied.

"Yeah! Yeah, and! And, also the fact that there was literally _nothing_," Shaun spoke a little too quick with his English accent, sounding a bit excited. "Didn't you see? There were not cooling vents, no air conditioners, no solar panels, no satellite dishes, nothing. Nothing!"

"Okay, calm down there, big boy," Rebecca squeezed in.

"'Calm? _Calm_?' No, no, sorry 'Becky,' but I cannot be _calm _right now because this misson includes a one-man infiltration without any means of back up coming to help, and if it turns out that this very day is the day Gentek decides to spiral out of control and unleash whatever chaos they have in store, then we may as well just throw Desmond into the snake pit," Shaun explained feverishly. Desmond fumbled with the screws on the hatch of the the air duct. He cleared his throat as he pulled it open and climbed inside.

"I thought we agreed on no grim topics?" Desmond spoke through his teeth.

"Riiight. Well sorry, but this time is an exception, unfortunately for you. No doubt you do know the consequences for embarking on one of these types of missions, but nonetheless I'd rather you try not to get killed?"

"Like he didn't know that in the first place, asshole," Rebecca stated. "Anyway, keep an eye out Desmond! Something is happening right now, and it's best if you try your best to avoid it and carry out the mission."

Desmond hummed in agreement.

* * *

><p>Dark, cold, cramped, and disgustingly dusty. Desmond shook his head and wondered why the Assassin Order chose white to be the base color of their preferred armors or uniforms. One would think that white would be the most noticeable thing out in a crowd; even Desmond himself doesn't understand why no one can spot him easily. He crawled his way through the confines of the air duct, wishing he had the least bit of common sense to have brought a flashlight. Rebecca's voice buzzed in his ear as he made a tight left turn.<p>

"Okay, okay be careful here Desmond! I'm looks at the plans of the building right now and in a few seconds you'll come close to a drop." Desmond planned on replying, however he expected his left hand to go forward and touch cold, dusty metal. He didn't expect to grab nothing but air and tumble forward and fall through the thin metal of the air duct. He landed with a rough thud on his back, meeting with pure, unforgiving concrete. He groaned in his sleeve, rolling on his side as Rebecca's wince can be heard on the other side of his mic. Desmond could imagine Shaun's facepalm as he sighed heavily. He rolled onto his knees and surveyed his surroundings with blurred vision. As far as he could tell, the room he stood in now did not seem to be something that would be built in a financially well company such as Gentek. The ground was bare gray concrete, as were the walls (which were cracking and chipping here and there). Dim yellow lights revealed shining metal shelves that held equally metal boxed containers. Each were large and labeled with strange coding that Desmond could not comprehend.

"DL809, RT627, JD335..." Desmond read the labels carefully. "Do you have any idea what these things are, Rebecca?" The tacking of Rebecca's keyboard responded.

"Well, no I can't find anything related to those things in their records. I suggest you keep your hands off of them, Des. I get the feeling that you're treading on some very thin ice here."

"As if infiltrating Gentek didn't put him on thin enough ice already..." Shaun mumbled. Desmond's eyes trailed off of the large containers and spied tall steel cabinets with stacks of scrambled papers atop them. He read the labels pasted onto the cabinet drawers with careful eyes, glad these were printed in English and not in some foreign language of code. His eyes caught one label that read in large bold letters: **EXHIBITS/SUBJECTS.** He latched his hand onto the cold handle and pressed the lock as he pulled out the crammed drawer full of disorganized and jumbled files.

"Desmond, what are you doing? We don't have time for this," Shaun warned. "Come on, you need to get to the top floor and be prepared for the meeting!"

"It's only eight-oh-nine, calm down," Desmond spoke as he brushed his fingers through the files. Unfamiliar names were spotted along with names stricken through with a bold orange highlighter. One of the names caught his eyes. **RENT, JACKSON** was what it read. On the far right of the label, a title in quotation marks read as "HADES" The file was quite wide when he carefully pulled it out.

"No, no Desmond I don't care if you think we have a lot of time here. Okay, you've got an hour before the meeting will start and I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure it might take more than sixty bloody minutes for you to situate your arse up in the meeting room so-" Shaun was cut off.

"I don't know what you're looking at Desmond but me and Shaun were hoping you'd kind of just put the file down and get on up to the meeting room," Rebecca spoke rather loudly into the mic.

"Shh! Guys just quiet for a second, please," Desmond opened up the beige folder and scanned his eyes through the assorted papers. He could hear Shaun groaning on the other side.

"Honestly, if Lucy were here I wouldn't be so anal about this but dear god, Desmond. Please! You're the only one in there for this mission and swear if you blow it just for some people's names in a metal cabinet..." Shaun's exasperated voice caused Desmond's eye to twitch slightly in irritation. Rushing him was something certainly no one should do.

"They're not just names, Shaun..." He said as he skimmed the large words printed over the papers. Words describing behavior, strength, health and intelligence. A few pictures revealed the person being supervised was a young man, about the same age as Desmond himself. Most of the pictures were in black and white, but one profile picture of the man revealed he had layered, shoulder length platinum blond hair. His eyes were narrow and a light gray, glaring at the camera. His skin was light and smooth while his defined collar bone and lean muscles at his shoulders proved he certainly wasn't someone who you could push around, even with his "pretty boy" features.

Personal files revealed he'd no known biological family, only an adoptive family who had raised him in Germany for a while, then came back to live in the states. He enlisted in the Marine Corps and stayed for two years at age seventeen, and at age nineteen, he was promoted to Corporal and was suggested to serve in Blackwatch. During his time in BW, he was assigned to watch over subject "ZEUS."

The files after that are all chronological records on this Jackson kid, reporting on how he's been acting under Gentek surveillance as a "test subject" for some sick genetic virus; namely the same genetic virus that subject ZEUS has, only the reports mention a certain "edge" he has that hasn't been seen in the prominent ZEUS itself. The way this kid was being mentioned in the files caused Desmond to grip the papers tightly. There were no "he's," hims," or "his's." There were only "its" or "the subject's," as if the living and breathing young man were nothing but an item or a possession. According to his files, he's been in containment for two years.

"Okay, okay, Desmond just what do you plan to do with whatever information on that paper?" Shaun questioned impatiently as Desmond quickly closed the file and put it back in its place.

"What did that stuff say anyway? The text was too small to be caught on the camera," Rebecca mentioned. Desmond rolled his fingers further back in the file cabinet, skimming the names that were labeled on each folder.

"As naïve as this sounds, I was expecting some kind of information on the project Gentek and Abstergo planned on talking about today," Desmond spoke with a controlled voice. "But instead I get records on actual people being used as lab rats... There's at least twenty files in here!" Desmond reached the very back of the drawer and was met with a worn out folder stuffed with papers with wrinkled edges and pictures that stood out here and there.

He searched for the file based on the name "ZEUS," the one he'd seen in Jackson Rent's file. His eyes trailed left of the codename to the name of the subject. With furrowed eyebrows, he read the name twice; three times, even. It did not change as he hoped it would. It wasn't his mind playing tricks on him either. The file name read in large, bold letters:

**MERCER, ALEXANDER JAMES**

Desmond's eyes widened as he cautiously opened the worn out file. _There's no fucking way,_ Desmond thought. A picture in profile of the same Alex Mercer was clipped onto the personal file paper on the top of the folder. It showed his same icy blue stare, his short dark brown curled hair was apparent, and his deathly pale skin was close to showing up as white in the photo. Desmond's eyes frantically skimmed the reports on the other pages, picking up words like "violent" and "unrestrained," as well as "inhumane" and "malicious" for his behavior. He'd even caught the not-so-surprising "sociopath" title given to him by the researchers. Desmond continued on, reading the reports on his days under Gentek surveillance as a "test subject."

The words on his actions were often callous and very _graphic. _Descriptions analyzed his reactions to being thrown in a pit of ravaging wild animals, tearing them apart and smashing their bodies into the wall, splattering their guts. Another paper reports his tolerance of pain and speed of regeneration when he was forcibly cut open multiple times at his stomach and arms...the same paper also mentioned that several scientists had died that day.

Multiple papers reported on his attempts at escaping—throwing what the researchers called "temper tantrums"—during his time under study. Once after being forced into a pit of rabid animals and taking care of every single one, he began tearing the animals' bodies apart and hurling them at the window which the researchers observed from. The researchers were startled at the sudden thump of a lion's bloody thigh staining the clear glass, but each were reminded that the glass was strong enough to take more force than that. Becoming filled with more rage, he destroyed the plates of thick metal that covered the entire room, and launched several enormous, sharp pieces of debris at the feeble glass that was the only thing between Alex and them. The paper mentioned that the emergency Bloodtox Vents—whatever those were—had activated almost immediately, only ZEUS had suffered little to no damage from it. The researchers suspect that Alex is growing some kind of immunity to the chemical agent, and mention that several D-Code Soldiers (also known as Blackwatch Super Soldiers) were needed to subdue ZEUS.

Desmond quickly shoved the file back into its rightful place and slammed the drawer closed. He placed his fingers at the sides of his forehead and breathed heavily, as if the air in the room had grown thin. His balance wavered as he stepped away from the metal shelves and steel cabinets, leaning against the freezing concrete wall of the small room.

"Des, are you okay? Your breathing is a little too heavy in the mic there. Is anything wrong? What was in those papers?" Rebecca's questions came rapidly. He shook his head and swallowed the accumulating saliva in his mouth, trying not to hurl the contents of his stomach out on the floor. He couldn't help but imagine the reports vividly in his mind, seeing Alex with a sick, twisted grin stand in the middle of an overly clean, frigid metal room surrounded by pools of blood and batches of animal carcasses.

_Why? Why would the chairman accept such a _beast _into the academy? And why would he have _me _and only _me _of all people watch over him?! _Desmond's mind was in turmoil as he stood with his arm against the wall. He gasped big puffs of air and straightened his back. He was still painfully confused, but he had no time to question the decisions of his great grandfather, as he had a very important task to carry out. The same raging questions racked his brain as he gripped the handle of the large heavy steel door at the front of the room, and they still raged as he slipped into the dark shadows of the Gentek hallways.

* * *

><p>Alex stood north-east from the front side of the Gentek building, still in his BW disguise. He scoured the courtyard, silently taking out any back-up BW soldiers that were called in after the little "playtime" he had with that anal BW Officer and his squad. It had been a grueling hour and a half since he'd last seen Desmond sneak into the building, and his patience was certainly being tested. He was close to barging through the entrance doors and slaughtering anyone who comes within three feet of the young tanned man. No doubt he was slightly paranoid at the thought of Desmond potentially getting caught—a thought that had been reoccurring in the past hour and a half—but he retrains himself, trusting and hoping that the young man can handle himself against these ruthless men.<p>

A chain of sudden explosions shook Gentek and racked the bones of Alex's body, causing him to stumble backward a bit. The tinkling of glass shards were scattered across the courtyard and a dark gray smoke fumed out of a gaping hole at the top of the building. As the smoke thinned out somewhat, Alex eyed a faint white figure with his back facing the opening of the building and his arms outstretched at his sides with a taunting mood. Further in, several Gentek guards held the man at gunpoint, closing in at where he stood. Alex smirked as the man slowly took steps back toward the edge of the building. _He wouldn't... _Alex let out an amused chuckle. He watched as the hooded man brought a hand to his forehead, and quite mockingly let out a half-assed salute.

Rocking back on his heels, he let his body fall through the air. Twisting his body around, he dove down as if he were a eagle going in for a kill. He reached at his back and ejected his parachute; a flume of white expanded from the small pack on his back as he slowly descended safely to the ground. Bullets were sprayed at the top of the building, only to go completely off target or hit a few holes in the parachute. Unhooking the chute from the pack, he tumbled down onto the ground and bolted off into the crowded streets outside of the courtyard. Alex's eyes were drawn back to the guards at the top of the tower who were now scurrying to get on ground level to chase after the hooded man. However, after a stunt like that, Alex knew they weren't going to find a single trace of the man. The crowds of this city were dense enough for him to hide easily right under their noses. The same couldn't be said for Alex himself, though. He shook his head as he crouched close to the ground and then took air. Desmond's work here was finished, and Alex had absolutely no other business with Gentek other than that. He glided through the air back to the academy with an amused grin.

* * *

><p>He leaned against the black painted I-beams that were built high up in the ceiling of the room, waiting for the meeting to begin. He'd made it with time to spare, considering how many guards he'd had to sneak past andor knock out on his way up.

The room was dark with a rough gray carpet with abstract patterns that lined the whole floor. Three walls of the room were made completely of glass which oversaw the city and its neighboring buildings, and a long narrow glass conference table sat in the middle of the room with all its black swivel chairs neatly tucked in. The ticking of a clock that hang on the one wall that was made of wood and not of glass ticked away endlessly, negatively affecting Desmond's agitated state of mind. He usually didn't mind being in such an open, quite space all alone; most of the time he enjoyed it. However, bearing the thoughts of Alex's true nature disrupted his calm state of mind and set him dangerously on the edge. Also, the fact that this facility was _creating _more of his "kind" nearly shoved him off the cliff altogether. Desmond folded his arms and gripped his sleeves at the thought of letting Alex roam free at the academy. He could just erase a poor student's life in a second without a moment's notice! For all he knew, Alex's next target could be Desmond himself.

Was that why the chairman ordered Desmond to watch over him? To make sure he wouldn't _kill _anyone? Desmond was bewildered at the thought of Chairman Ezio somehow thinking he could take down such a hazardous being. Assassinating a clueless enemy is one thing, but going against a man with the strength of a monster was just ludicrous...and yet, that was all he knew about Alex. The man was fairly anti-social—he didn't know him well enough to go as far as to dub him a sociopath as the report had—and he _did _have an intimidating aura behind him, but what other evidence is there to prove Alex was all of the thing the file had reported? As painfully real and sick the reports had sounded, Desmond pressed his assumptions about Alex into denial. Even if the men and women who claimed Alex was such a demon supposedly trapped on Earth, Desmond was sure the young man was still a human with his own emotions and thoughts.

He scratched his nose and felt his face flush slightly. _Emotions indeed, _Desmond pursed his lips as his mind wandered back to the day on the roof. He'll admit now that he's thinking about it; it wasn't necessarily the _kiss _that made him so angry, and mind you it wasn't like he got his first kiss stolen either. "Violated" wasn't the exact term that described how he felt; no, if anything he felt more embarrassed out of his wits than he did before. He disliked it, but he didn't _hate _it. He didn't expect it, yet something in his body surfaced, and _yearned _for it. He couldn't explain it very well, but he knew that somewhere in his body, somehow, he felt lonely. Sure enough, Desmond had Rebecca and Shaun and a few other people he was socially interactive with. Lucy's friendship was obviously a given. However, he'd been starting to notice changes with his relationship with her.

Initially, when he'd first arrived at the academy and began his classes, he expected Lucy to be ecstatic about his attendance at the academy. He remembered her surprised face when he spotted her walking to the cafeteria for breakfast; she kept her surprised face as he neared her and gave her a tight hug. Desmond had spent his time that day always around her, and that's how he'd come to know Rebecca and Shaun. The day after that, him and Lucy's conversations together subtly started to change. When he expected an enthusiastic reply, he would get a short and rather forced answer that would cause Desmond to struggle in finding a way to continue the conversation. He noticed her hurried movements in their shared classes as if she were trying to escape from something. He noticed her eyes would avoid his from time to time when they sat together for lunch in the cafeteria. Of course there were times where Desmond felt as if things went back to normal between the both of them, but an itching feeling from the back of his mind would constantly remind him things have changed.

_I hate being so perceptive with these kinds of things..._he thought to himself.

The conference door flew open, and a slender woman with elegant curves walked in. Her hair was a fiery and wavy auburn which had the sides pinned to the sides of her head. She stood with her chin slightly elevated into the air and her posture and chest was arched high and held diligently. She adjusted her black framed glasses higher up her nose with her white gloved hands and balanced perfectly on her high black pumps.

"He will be with you shortly," a man who held the door open for the woman spoke with a monotone voice. The man promptly closed the door and the room was quiet once more. Desmond snaked his way through the I-Beams of the ceiling and situated himself above the long conference table with his back to the glass wall and his front facing the entrance door.

"Woo," Rebecca's low whistle came from the other side. "That is _one _chick..."

"Indeed... I believe that is Ms. Aubrey Jacobs, Alan Rikken's assistant and spokesperson for the meeting," Shaun informed.

"She has an amazing the body too... Damn! It sucks she has to play for Team Templar. Why do all the good ones have to betray me like this?" Rebecca spoke dramatically.

"Instead of worrying about her sexuality, you worry about her ideals. Perfect way to root out your choices in a partner," Shaun pointed out.

"Not my fault! If any sexy man or woman were even remotely linked to Abstergo, they're immediately crossed off my list of potential lovers," Rebecca replied.

"You speak as if you _have_ a long list of potential lovers..." Shaun retorted. A growl came from Rebecca's throat. If he hadn't had the risk of being detected, he would've immediately told the other two assassins to shut their mouths. Com-Chatter seemed to be an insistent problem of theirs...

The woman took the nearest seat at the conference table and carefully placed a wide black card with a light blue circle in the middle on the table. She brushed what seemed to Desmond some non-existent dust off of it, and resumed sitting like a statue in the piercing silence.

"A Hologram Plate, or Holo-Plate for short," Rebecca examined. "Let's hope that whatever they're presenting is big enough to catch on camera..." Several minutes passed in painful silence as the woman sat diligently. The door abruptly opened, revealing a grim, middle-aged man with a gray suit and equally grayed hairs at the sides of his head. Ms. Jacobs rose from her seat and quite somberly stretched her hand out towards the man.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. McMull—"

"I'm afraid your meeting with our president must be postponed," the man spoke with a deep voice. "My name is Richard Hughes, and I am here to inform you that the meeting has been cancelled."

"Pardon?"

"Gentek has been experiencing some minor disturbances this morning, and Mr. McMullen deemed it right to move yours and his meeting to a later date."

"Right? No, Mr. McMullen _has no right _to cancel such an important meeting with Abstergo. We were supposed to discuss the terms of Gentek merging with Abstergo, _and_ we were to discuss the status of the subjects under Gentek surveillance and whether or not they are deemed worthy enough work under Abstergo." Rebecca spoke up urgently.

"Wait wait wait, what is she talking about? What 'subjects?' And why does Abstergo plan to make them their henchmen?"

"All I am permitted to say, Ms. Jacobs, is that the subjects you plan to use are still under Gentek care. Given that we we've already lost one of our most prominent test subjects just a few weeks ago, our analysis and research is still in progress with our remaining subjects. Their mental stability just isn't sufficient enough for you to take them yet."

"Then I suggest you and your colleagues hurry it up with your research because the faster you hand over the test subjects, the faster _we _get ZEUS back under your watch," the woman crossed her arms and huffed impatiently.

"I'm afraid it's not so easy as just watching and taking down notes, Ms. Jacobs. These kinds things take an incredible amount of time; unless you want the test subjects raging and out of your control, I suggest you let us do our job, and you take care of yours, which is to get ZEUS back in our facility for further research," the man held his ground against the tall woman. She turned back to the table and picked up the Holo-Plate and waved it in front of the man.

"Look, I hold new information on ZEUS that one of my associates graciously put together for me. Its behavior, its health status, and not to mention, _its location,_" she held the Holo-Plate under her crossed arms. "All of that, _and _the sufficient funds to continue your so-called '**Project Innovation**.'"

"'Project INVN and along with all of our records of the project have been terminated by Blackwatch. The only reason they patrol our grounds below us is to keep us from continuing that line of work," the man snapped back. The woman smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"What if I told you that _all_ of your records regarding Project INVN are still intact? And that every single little detail were contained in this Holo-Plate?" The woman tauntingly held out the thin black rectangle; only then did the man's cool exterior falter. His eyes widened and his large dark brows came together.

"I'll give this to you, however, there are multiple requirements to get this information first," the woman turned around sat in one of the conference chairs and crossed her legs with a smug look as she placed the Holo-Plate on her lap. "I want subjects HADES and ARES's mental states stable by the end of next month. I also want you to continue your experimental stage with Project INVN as soon as possible. Once those have been accounted for, only then will we continue our discussion of merging companies."

"Wait wait," the man interrupted. "The original subjects who participated in Project INVN were all wiped out on orders by Blackwatch. We don't have and test subjects who are good enough to be put through our experiments!"

"Leave that to me," Ms. Jacobs replied. "I was informed by the same associate who gave me ZEUS's information that they'd found man with exceptional health and strength to be used for such an occasion. The only catch is that once you complete your research with Project INVN and that the test subjects are stable, Abstergo demands that you also hand them to us."

"B-but—"

"By then you'd already have enough information to continue your research on another test subject and see if the results with them are the same as the others you've already tested on. With this, you and your colleagues have more fun down in the lab while my associates and I have new 'employees' to work with," the woman brushed a strand of her fiery hair out of her eyes and stared back into the soul of the now uncomfortable man. An eerie and dreadful pause filled the room. Desmond watched the back of the woman's head intently from the ceiling. He noted the slight turn of her head down to her shoulder, and the sudden stiffness the man in the gray suit had.

"It seems your list of 'minor disturbances' within Gentek today just keeps growing, sir," Ms. Jacobs spoke with a low voice. The air around Desmond's cheek whizzed past him as a knife traveled against his skin. He stumbled backwards off the I-Beam landed and roughly on his back for the second time today. He let out a retrained groan and tapped his fingers at his moist cheek which was oozing a steady stream of blood.

"How poor is your security here at Gentek to allow a mole of the Assassin's Order to sneak in?" The woman stood from behind the conference table with the Holo-Plate in one arm and a small knife twirling around in her other hand. _Where the hell was she keeping those? And I thought she didn't know anything about the Templar Order! _Desmond thought hazily in his head.

"Desmond, are you alright?! Get up!" Rebecca called urgently. "Come on Desmond, you _have _to get that Holo-Plate! It holds cold hard evidence of Abstergo and Gentek's plans!" He rolled onto his feet and faced the beautiful yet stern woman. She readily gripped the knife in her hand and hurled it at Desmond's chest, but missed as he took a dive from under the table and slid past the woman, knocking her behind the knees. He unlocked his bow and pulled out his remaining arrow (the others he used sparingly on the guards as he made his way up to the meeting room) and aimed it at the gray suited man, who was now hollering for security. The arrow stuck in his chest and he soon collapsed after being punctured in the right lung. He got back on his feet and turned around to grab the Holo-Plate that was dropped by Aubrey Jacobs right next to him. Gentek guards flooded into the room with their handguns at ready, successfully blocking the only exit of the room. Desmond vaulted back over the conference table and knocked it on its side, taking cover from behind it. He heard Ms. Jacobs order the guards to not shoot, for she was still directly in the line of fire. She regained her footing and hastily hobbled her way in her six-inch pumps behind the wall of guards. Desmond heard her explaining to the guards that he was holding something very valuable to her, and that if they open fire on him and destroy it, then she would be sure to end their lives herself. Desmond tried to control his breathing as the sudden adrenaline rushed through his veins.

"Shit! I don't see any other exits in the room!" Rebecca's furious typing echoed into the mic.

"There's at least twelve men in that room, Desmond. All with guns and in gear like yourself. Don't you dare even think about trying to bulldoze your way through them," Shaun ordered as he wracked his brain for an emergency escape plan. Desmond eyed the large glass wall before him carefully, and reminded himself of the three sticky bombs he's acquired from Mr. da Vinci. A grin stretched across his face. He reached into his zipped up jacket pocket and pulled out one of the three bombs, quickly activated its sticky substance and tossed it at the glass wall as one of the Gentek guards ordered him to come out from the table. Once the explosive stuck to the glass, its twenty-five second timer began to drop, and Desmond kept note of this as he slipped the Holo-Plate between his back and parachute pack, and slowly stuck his hands out above the edge of the table. With his head facing down and his hands high above his head, the guards began closing in on him. He kept his grin as he gradually lowered his arms to his sides, and looked up at the guards with an amused face as the timer hit zero.

The building erupted and glass shards flew everywhere. Smoke from the bomb occupied the air and left the guards stunned. As the high winds from the sky cleared out the smoke, Desmond carefully took steps back towards the large gaping hole.

"St-stop him!" Aubrey Jacobs ordered with coughs in between. The guards resumed closing in on Desmond's location, only to be surprised when he pulls up two fingers to his forehead and gave them a lazy salute. With that, Desmond rocked back onto his heels and soared through the sky.

* * *

><p>...To be continued in Chapter VIV<p>

Strider's Babbles: Woohoo! New chapter before FINALS! ;v; I'm so terrible. I should be studying but instead I thought it would be better if I updated this first. OTL Though it's not like I don't feel like I'll do a terrible job on my finals, really. I feel pretty confident about them actually. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

There's not much I feel like I need to elaborate on in this chapter, only the fact that there _might _be a potential OC coming into play here. c: _MIGHT_. I hope you don't mind! To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to go through with this chapter, but nonetheless, I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

Alex's middle name, "James" came randomly to mind when I saw his full name on his wikia page. I thought it sounded more appropriate as opposed to John or Jake or something.

You guys are so awesome! I love reading the reviews you give me and I'm glad many of you like where I'm going with this fanfic, considering how SLOOOOW I'm going with it.

**Readers: **COME ON! GIVE US THE ALEXxDES LEMONS ALREADY!

**Me: **But but but plot and story and... -is shot-

Haha! Please do bear with me as I build up Alex and Desmond's ties with each other, because (personal opinion time!) I feel like it wouldn't have as much meaning is Desmond suddenly fell in love with Alex right off the bat. I mean, I love Alex too, but knowing he has these tendrils and crazy diabolical powers is quite the set-back in a relationship if you ask me.

Speaking of relations, DUN DUN DUN! Desmond found out why Ezio wants to keep a close eye on him at the school! But, why _did _the man accept such a monster into his academy? Desmond knows of Alex's secret, but he holds unsure feelings on whether or not the man truly is what they claim him to be. And it seems these aren't the only feelings he's unsure about... We now also sort of know what Abstergo and Gentek are plotting together, and we have now uncovered the mysterious **Project Innovation! **-GASP- What'll happen next? Be patient and find out! ^^


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter IX

"Hold still, hold still!" Shaun mumbled as he patter a cotton ball doused with rubbing alcohol against Desmond's arm. The annoying singing buzzed from the flesh wound that grazed his right arm. Rebecca followed the same procedures for his hand and forehead, for his landing after ejecting from the parachute was rather rough. Desmond hissed at the needle-like stinging that was apparent in his arm and now, hand. He jerked his arm away with a growl, only to have it pulled back and patter with more rubbing alcohol.

"You know, for an assassin, you have a very low tolerance for pain," Shaun furrowed his eyebrows as he inspected the small cut from the bullets that were sprayed from the guards of Gentek.

"No I don't," Desmond pursed his lips. "I just hate the disinfecting of my wounds."

"Sit still, Des," Rebecca pulled up a new cotton ball doused with more rubbing alcohol to his forehead. He immediately flinched back from the sudden needle sting. "Oh quit being such a baby!" Desmond grumbled as he sat through the disinfecting, then sighed in relief when they finally patched him. He was about to pull on his hoodie when Shaun stopped him.

"What now?" Desmond groaned. The brit motioned for his shirt up.

"Don't think I forgot about you falling on your back twice," Shaun crossed his arms as he saw Desmond's eyes roll. "Added with that crap landing after ditching the chute, I'm pretty sure your back is feeling _some _kind of stress."

"Who knew you were so observant," Desmond spoke sarcastically as he lifted his shirt. The bruise wasn't as bad as Shaun had thought; it was purple-ish black, sure enough, but it was rather light. The size though took up a good portion of his upper right shoulder. and was still a little red from his shoulder roll. Desmond once again took his seat on a cold, steel stool that was brought in by Shaun. The brit assassin carefully pasted an icy-hot patch over the large bruise. With a sigh, Desmond slouched in relief. Within another second, he yelped in pain after Shaun lightly smacked the patch.

"Y-you douche," Desmond bent over, rubbing his back.

"Right, well come on, we've got to get back to the school," Shaun said as he moved over to his equipment cases.

"What, I don't get a breather?" Desmond slid off the high stool. Slowly and carefully, he slipped on his shirt. He carried his hoodie, not wanting to lift his arms again to put it on.

"You've had enough breathing time already," Shaun replied. "Right now, we need to get back to Chairman Ezio and review whatever the hell is in that Holo-Plate. Maybe it's got info on that 'project' they were talking about..." Desmond froze in place, slightly uncomfortable at the thought of what the project might be. Whatever this "Project Innovation" is, Desmond was sure it included human experimentation reviews or something of that sort. He wanted to clarify what had happened in the depressing file room to his friends, but at the same time, he wanted to keep the information to himself and prevent the leaking of Alex's true nature to the students and staff of the academy...at least until he hears what Chairman Ezio has to say about this.

They drove back in intervals; Rebecca departed first with part of the equipment, then after a good ten minutes, Desmond with Shaun and the rest of the tech in his large moving truck (it was the chairman's idea to leave separately for they may have potential rats on their tails). Desmond sat awkwardly cramped in the back of the truck with all the computer tech, not wanting to risk being seen from the windshield by any sneaky Templars. The drive was awkward and silent, leaving Desmond unsure with what to start a conversation with. Instead he sat, jerking around only when Shaun drove over a pothole in the road. He looked up suddenly when he head Shaun clear his throat.

"Hm. A question if you don't mind Desmond. Why do you think Gentek was in the state it was this morning?"

"Huh? Where'd this come from?"

"Well, I know for a fact that Gentek isn't as hectic as _that_ on a regular work day. BW is usually top notch in its jobs, looking professional and cruel and whatnot, but here it seemed to me that most of them were as skittish as the world's shyest mouse," Shaun spoke casually. Desmond sighed and interlaced his fingers.

"I don't know," was what escaped his mouth. "Maybe they had some kind of big bug fly in?"

"Desmond, I'm being serious here."

"Well I am too," Desmond said as he leaned back against the metal walls of the van. He thought back to the red and black flares that he believed he hallucinated back at the factory. _What if...that was also Alex? _

The thought of Alex stalking Desmond around every corner made him slightly sick, as he felt like some kind of prey waiting to be snatched by some wild animal lurking behind the shadows. Maybe some kind of wild cat...

His mind snapped back once her remembered Alex's little nickname he gave to him. He sneered at the thought, arguing to himself in his head saying _I'm no 'kitten.' Tch. If anything, I'm more like some kind of bird, up and around in the air and stuff. A pretty noble one, too. Maybe and eagle. Alex is more of a cat than I am, what with his reclusive nature and his 'Ihateallofyou' kind of personality. _He was satisfied with this argument until he soon groaned in realization: cats still eat birds.

With a sudden dip and a sharp left turn, the van arrived and approached the gates of the academy and began driving over the stretch of land that led to the main building in the distance. Desmond gripped at his duffel bag full of equipment and pressed at his earpiece.

"Hey Rebecca, we're driving up the main road. Did you manage to unload all of the stuff?" A short static sound emanated from the speaker before he got a reply.

"Yeah! I was able to get all of my stuff inside without any problems," she said accomplished.

"Really now? How'd you manage that?" Desmond let out a short chuckle. Rebecca was hardy and energetic in personality, but rather lean in regards to physical stature.

"Hey! Just because I don't have good upper body strength doesn't mean I can't carry around a few boxes!"

"A few boxes filled with heavy scraps of metal..." a familiar low voice spoke through the earpiece.

"Not to mention the boxes themselves are made of some tough plastic and metal-rounded edges," a second female voice added. "Besides, you had like, eight of those things. And three of them were _huge_!"

"Yeah well, if you guys wait around, you'll get to carry more heavy boxes. Yay!" Rebecca said sarcastically. Desmond raised an eyebrow and pressed at his earpiece again.

"Rebecca, who are you talking to?" Shaun rolled up in the academy courtyard soon after, leaving Desmond to figure out himself. The back shutter of the van suddenly rolled up, letting an intense amount of sunlight leak in, followed by a cool breeze. He shielded his eye before seeing Rebecca standing with a wide smile and proceeding to drag one of the cases off the van.

"Alright Des, let us get all the gear off the van and then you can come out," Rebecca struggled with the bulky case. "Don't worry about needing to carry anything yourself. We've got a lot of man-power already!" Desmond lowered his hand as his eyes adjusted to the brightness.

"What are you talking about?" Rebecca lugged the first case under her arm, and with her free hand, tried to pull off a second case from the van. It barely moved a couple of inches before a separate pale hand moved onto the black case, making their skin look more white that it should've been. Desmond followed the pale hand up the person's arm, towards a familiar face with a familiar grin. Desmond took a breath and felt his heartbeat suddenly hitch, skipping a beat. His eyebrows furrowed together and his face twisted in a mixture of confusion, surprise, and fear. Oh, so much fear. His blood ran cold as the pale young man proceeded to lift up the long narrow black case up onto his shoulder, and then dragged a second similarly large case off the van and under his arm against his hip. Rebecca let out a friendly "thanks," before pulling up Dana into Desmond's view.

"Isn't it cool?" Rebecca grabbed Desmond's focus back on her. "I was unloading Honey Bug and pulling up the cases to the main building when I passed by Dana and her brother," Rebecca said, gleaming. "Dana offered some help and—check it!" She motioned towards Alex, carrying the hefty black boxes with ease. "Turns out, Alex is some kind of Superman!"

"Well, what can I say?" Dana shrugged with a smile. "My brother likes to stay in shape." Dana recognized Desmond's wary expression and softened as she pulled up a smaller crate. They stared at each other for a while, both understanding what their faces were trying to say.

_You've found out something, haven't you?_

Desmond pursed his lips and darted his eyes in the direction Alex was going, and back to Dana. He made a slow nod, and in return, Dana sighed. She turned around and followed behind her older brother. Desmond let out a sigh of his own and rubbed his face. What was with her? Why did she suddenly look so sad? So apologetic? He huffed in frustration, not being able to understand what she was thinking.

"Well, that's a surprise. How in the world did you manage to get Dana and her reclusive brother to help you?" Shaun spoke up.

"Well I didn't exactly get Alex's permission... Like I said, Dana offered help and she sort of just made Alex tag along," Rebecca explained. "He was nice enough to just go with it though. I mean, he _did _have a choice after all." Desmond sat with a puzzled face, analyzing what he'd just heard. Dana _made _him do it? He had every right to refuse, yet he was still _nice _enough to go through with it. He doesn't even know what all of the boxes are _for _and yet he still helps out. Desmond took a few deep breaths as he kept trying to convince himself that Alex was still _human_, and that he was still alive and breathing with his own thoughts. So far, that's the only side of Alex he's seen—his human side. He was already struggling to accept that side of Alex, and yet he strongly accepted his darker side without even witnessing it yet. Desmond looked up in realization. _I can't just judge him on what a few pieces of paper say about him..._ Desmond thought in conclusion. _...Even though the papers were seemed awfully believable... _

He maneuvered his way through the remaining luggage within the van and hopped out the back. He went to help with unloading the last case, but was stopped.

"Do not bother with such things. Let me do it," an Italian accent spoke up. Desmond nodded thankfully at the Chairman as he took the case in both his hands. "You have done enough work already; just let yourself rest for a while."

"Thank you, sir," Desmond replied, as he closed shutter of the van.

"Come _bambino_, after we store all of the equipment, we will come in for a meeting." The chairman's voice turned stern as they walked up to the entrance of the main building. "Desmond. We need to talk."

* * *

><p>"...So Gentek was experiencing some technical trouble, along with possible infiltration other than Desmond," Altaïr summarized. "That, and our information of Aubrey Jacobs being oblivious of the Templar Order was wrong as well..." He shook his head. They were all gathered within the Chairman's office, pulling together all the pieces of evidence they had gotten from the mission. Shaun sat on the wide armrest next to Rebecca, while Desmond sat on the other side of the coffee table in the other plush seat. Chairman Ezio sat with his fingers interlaced with each other from behind his large desk, and Chairman Altaïr stood with arms crossed in the corner of the room, near the window.<p>

"Mistakes happen," Rebecca said. "She was probably told about it the day before, or maybe a week before the meeting."

"Are you suggesting she was prepped for such an occurrence specifically for this meeting?" Shaun replied.

"Well, if I were Abstergo, I'd want to warn my associates of sneaky assassin's that could kill them from any corner...at least, warn the ones who have work related to the Templar Order."

"You idiot. Abstergo is all about the Templar Order," Shaun rolled his eyes.

"Then I guess they warned them all!" Rebecca threw up her hands.

"Alright!" Desmond shouted. "So the intel was wrong. Moving on now?" He spoke impatiently. "Jacobs mentioned the revival of some kind of project that Gentek was working on before, but it was shut down by Blackwatch. Something called 'Project Innovation.' I managed to snag this Holo-Plate that supposedly has information about it," Desmond reached into his duffel bag and pulled out the wide but thin black card and slid it on the coffee table. "We haven't activated it yet," Desmond said, eyeing Chairman Ezio. Ezio gestured towards the plate, giving permission to Desmond to turn it on. The young assassin moved to tap the light blue circle in the middle of the Holo-Plate to activate it, only to have it suddenly glow a hostile red upon his touch.

"What the hell?" Desmond flinched back into his seat as the Holo-Plate pulsed, and spoke with a deep, distorted, robotic voice, repeating the same phrase several times.

_**"Fingerprint not recognized."**_

Desmond tapped the flashing red circle a few more times before the speech of the Holo-Plate changed.

_**"Fingerprint not recognized. **_

_**System Lock Enabled." **_

"What the fuck?!" Desmond cursed out loud. The flashing red circle faded to grey, and then glowed a dim white.

_**"System Lock Enabled. **_

_**Master Code required for Unlock."**_

Desmond roughly hit the circle several more times before Rebecca swatted his hand away from the Holo-Plate.

"Desmond stop! I think if you keep attacking the thing, it'll think we're trying to steal it's information!"

"So what? We _are _trying to steal the information from it. _That's _why I climbed up the whole damn building for the thing! I'm not going to just rub it off if it suddenly decides to not give me what I want!"

"Quit being such a baby and listen to me!" Rebecca slammed the coffee table. Desmond eyed Rebecca for a while before calming down and slumping back into his seat. Rebecca relaxed her shoulders before speaking again. "Look, the Holo-Plate is locked, right?" Desmond nodded. "And it says you need the 'Master Code' to unlock it again. Now, before you locked the system, the Holo-Plate was secured with a fingerprint password (obviously). Aubrey Jacobs's fingerprint must've been that password." Rebecca carefully spun the Holo-Plate around on the coffee table before her. "I think, that when Jacobs was going to hand over the Holo-Plate to Gentek, there would be a sixty-percent chance that a few nosy scientists who weren't involved with Project Innovation would try to check the files. So if an unidentified fingerprint were to try to access it, the Holo-Plate would lock up first, and would only be opened if another scientist knew the Master Code—a scientist who worked on the Project."

"Okay, I get that. Kind of like an iPhone, but why did you suddenly stop me?" Desmond raised an eyebrow. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"_Well, _with the iPhone, if you keep trying multiple times, the System Lock time will just keep extending longer and longer. However I don't think that's the case with this Holo-Plate. See, there _is _no System Lock time. There's only the System Lock, and it will forever _be _locked unless we get the Master Code. And since there's no timer to extend for the Holo-Plate, there might just be other security precautions included in it..."

"Meaning...?" Altaïr said impatiently.

"Meaning that if we keep trying to access the information while it's on System Lock, the Holo-Plate might feel like it's threatened, and engage in a memory sweep, wiping out all of the information held within it," Rebecca explained with worry.

"Well, you can just hack into it, can't you?" Desmond suggested.

"Obviously yes, I can. But with it being on System Lock, I have a limited number of tries at it before the memory sweep," Rebecca picked up the Holo-Plate and tucked it into her pack. "If you'd just stopped trying to access it at the 'Red Light' stage and let it reset back to blue, I could've hacked into it without worrying on how many chances I have left." She huffed as she zipped up her pack.

"But you _can _hack into it?" Chairman Ezio emphasized. " We _need _to know what they are planning, _signora_." Rebecca sighed and nodded.

"It'll be tough, but I'll see what I can do," Rebecca replied. "If anything, I just hope it gives me more than three tries to hack into it." Ezio nodded, and leaned back into his seat with a huff.

"Well, without the Holo-Plate, we cannot continue reviewing the mission or gather a theory on what Abstergo is planning. We will continue after _Signora _Crane unlocks the information. You may leave." The group of three all stood up and made their way towards the door. "Except you Desmond. Hang on, I told you we need to talk." Desmond waved his friends goodbye as he took his seat again in the plush red chair.

"Yes sir?" Desmond asked. Ezio mumbled something to Altaïr before speaking. Altaïr nodded, and slowly made his way towards the door, letting the door click lightly as he closed it. And they were alone.

"Desmond. Dana told me you looked like you had something on your mind," Ezio mentioned. Desmond gulped in uneasiness. "Is there something bothering you _bambino_?" Desmond looked down at his hands on his knees and interlaced them together.

"I want to know... Just what exactly _is _Alex Mercer?" Ezio closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"I knew you would find out eventually, but this was a lot sooner than I had expected."

"What _is _he?" Desmond demanded once more.

"He is a _human_, Desmond," Ezio spoke with a firm voice. "He is a young man with a difficult past, one that he is trying to recover from." Desmond furrowed his eyebrows at the chairman.

"No. I am _not _accepting that answer."

"Yes you are."

"_No! _He is _more _than just a guy with a difficult past. He is a whole lot more than that!" Desmond stood from his chair, shouting.

"What is he then, Desmond?" Ezio's voice suddenly hushed. "Tell me, what did you see in Gentek that makes you see him as something more? You don't deny he is human, but you _know _he is something else. What is that, Desmond?" Desmond faltered back, unsure of what to come back with.

"H-he's... he's not some kind of...savage..." he said quietly. "He's human but not a mindless monster." Desmond clenched his fists. "But he _is _dangerous. Tell me, _why is he here?_"

"What do you mean," the chairman spoke with a monotone voice, with the question sounding no different than a phrase.

"Why is such a dangerous person here in an academy filled with harmless civilians?"

"Why _not? _You said yourself, Alex Mercer is not a 'mindless monster,'" Ezio snapped.

"He's not, but that doesn't mean he might not hurt anybody!" He was shouting again. "How can you trust someone who endangers practically everyone around him?" Desmond slammed his hands on the chairman's desk.

"It is not the safety of all of the students you care about, Desmond. I know that for sure," Ezio said sternly. Desmond leaned in towards the Chairman.

"If _anything _happens to Lucy, and _he _is the cause of it..." Desmond seethed through his teeth.

"And what will you do, exactly, against a supposed 'Superman?'" Ezio challenged. Desmond balled his hand into fist against the desk, but released it when he heard the doors swing open. He directed his glare towards the doorway, eyeing the Mercer siblings. Desmond's glare didn't soften when he saw Dana's hurt expression. She lowered her gaze as Desmond looked past her at the pale man, whose face couldn't even be seen from under his hood. The young man's knuckles were white as he clenched his fists. Altaïr maneuvered his way through the door way and brushed past Desmond, placing a hand on Ezio's shoulder murmuring something before reclaiming his place in the corner near the window. Desmond looked back at Chairman Ezio with the same glare, and huffed before moving to pick up his duffel bag. Dana moved out of the way as Desmond exited the office, sidestepping Alex without even giving him a glance. Alex caught Desmond's arm, lightly gripping him. Desmond tried shaking it off, but Alex kept his grip on Desmond's forearm.

"Wait..." Alex said quietly. Desmond looked back at Alex finally with his glare. Up close, he was able to make out Alex's facial features from under his hood. His eyes were sharp and cold, and his mouth was slight open as if he wanted to say something else. His grip tightened slightly and brought his eyebrows together when he couldn't find the right words to say. Desmond stood waiting, only to see Alex's expression change from frustrated to apologetic. Desmond pulled his arm from Alex's grip and walked out of the faculty office without even looking back.

* * *

><p>...To be continued in Chapter X<p>

Strider's Babbles: Yeeeeeey! Spring Break! I've missed you guys ;v; I hope you've missed me too. ;A; Anyway, new chapter! Awesome! It's a bit shorter than the last chapter but I believe it is still a good amount c: I feel like there's not much development here, but! I'll just go with it and see where this takes me c: Until next time friends! Cheers!


	10. Chapter 10

**THIS IS THE LONGEST FRIGGEN CHAPTER EVER, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU GUYS DESERVE IT. ENJOY.**

* * *

><p>Chapter X<p>

The next morning, Desmond was already up and changed for his classes. He'd figured he should wake up early to change his clothes; with great care, he washed himself in the shower and got dressed, all within half an hour. The shower itself was difficult to do, for he struggled with not getting soap into his cuts. The struggle with the clothes wasn't as hard, but it was still tiring. He'd wished he had asked for a day of rest, but he didn't want to complain to Chairman Ezio after the argument they'd had the day before.

Speaking of the chairman, Desmond reached for his cellphone and turned it on to see a small message from Ezio. He snorted when he read that the chairman still wanted to "talk" about Alex's situation. He deleted the message and slipped his phone into his pocket, and then checked his wristwatch. He still had enough time to go grab something to munch on in the cafeteria before his classes started.

Desmond exited his dorm, making sure to lock it with his keycard before leaving. He pushed two earbuds into his ears and turned up his music high enough for him to feel comfortable, but not so high for it to be so obnoxious in the morning. He entered the elevators and prayed it wouldn't stop until it reached the ground floor. In his head, Desmond was having one of those "I hate every single one of you" days, where he has to tolerate his friends, and mug-shot everyone else. _God, _he thought to himself as he exited the elevator and out the Boy's Dorm. _I wonder if this is what Alex feels like every day. _He mulled over it for a while before pushing the thought out of his head. Why was he even thinking of _him _right now? Desmond forced himself to focus on the current song that was playing from his earbuds, beating his fingers against his thighs to catch the rhythm.

He pushed against the doors of the cafeteria and found it nearly empty; the few students who actually bothered to wake up early were either eating their breakfast lethargically, or rushing to finish homework that they should've finished last night. Or a mix of both. Desmond made his way over to one of the lunch ladies who worked at the snack cart and ordered a plain white bagel with some cream cheese. He felt a tap at his shoulder and jerked away from it. He turned around to glare at whoever wanted to bother him, but relaxed when he saw Lucy.

Her hair was let loose around her shoulders and she looked very comfortable in her large black hoodie and poofy sweats, which were pulled up beneath her knees. Her lips were a light pink instead of her regular red, and her face was a bit paler than usual.

"H-hey Lucy," Desmond let out a nervous laugh. He's never seen her dressed this way before. She was always prepped with make up with her hair in some kind of up-do and she always looked presentable with a buttoned up blouse or something.

"Hey. Are you alright Des? You looked pretty pissed there for a second," Lucy said with a worried face.

"Uh, yeah well..." Desmond tried to come up with an excuse. "I'm just cranky from not being able to get some sleep last night." He rubbed the back of his head casually, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "H-how've you been? How's your arm?" She gave him a somewhat apologetic face and pulled out her arm from her hoodie pocket, revealing a purple hard-covered cast. Desmond winced lightly at the sight, then sighed.

"Well, injuries can't be avoided I guess. I would know, I've had a few since I was a kid," he brought his fingertips up to his mouth and lightly brushed his scar. He shrugged as he opened his cream cheese and broke apart his bagel. He offered a piece to Lucy, but she shook her head politely. They made their way to their lunch table and took their seats next to each other. Desmond smiled at himself inwardly; he glad he was able to finally hang out alone with Lucy. It was days like these where Desmond was able to fully relax and feel as if things were back to normal between him and his childhood friend. He even felt comfortable enough to just sit with her and not need to initiate a conversation; you don't get a relationship like that with just anybody, and even if you do, it's not often.

Lucy lightly cleared her throat, and set her arms on the table. She took in a breath and let out a yawn. Desmond pursed his lips together, suppressing a smile. _How cute, _he thought.

"So Des," Lucy started. "How was everything? Yesterday, I mean." Desmond hurriedly swallowed the bit of bagel he had left in his mouth before replying.

"It went good-well! It went well!" He quickly spat out his answer. Desmond caught himself and lowered his voice. "Slipping into the building went smoothly, and getting intel went just a well. No major injuries or anything."

"Really? That's great," Lucy gave him a smile. She turned back to her hands without another word and played with her thumbs. Desmond watched her expression go from light, seemingly unsatisfied in a matter of seconds. He rubbed the back of his head while surveying his surroundings inside the cafeteria; one person had already left, and a second hurriedly gathered their things together and bustled out the door. Desmond let out a sigh and focused on his crumpled napkin ball in front of him. He crossed his arms and leaned on the tabletop, speaking with a hushed tone.

"There _were _a few weird things, though...but they're really small stuff and they didn't really interfere with the mission," Desmond began.

"Oh?" Lucy spun her attention back on the young man. "Like what?" Desmond took a breath and let out a smile, pleased that he got her attention back.

"Well, you know how Gentek is supposed to be guarded by Blackwatch and military and stuff at the base?"

"Yeah?"

"When I got there, there was literally _no one _there. I mean, there were there at first, but after that, it was completely empty."

"I don't understand, Des."

"The place was guarded when I initially got there, but they all seemed like they were on edge," he explained. "They were all huddled together in a circle and had their guns at ready for anything," he shook his head. "I knew Blackwatch was twisted already but...they actually turned against one of their own guys." Lucy's brows came together in confusion.

"But why? What was going on before you came?"

"I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine, really," Desmond scratched at his nose before speaking again. "They were screaming on about something called Zeus..." Lucy's confusion heightened as she watched Desmond's face.

"Zeus?" Her voice was barely audible. Desmond took a breath and gripped at his sleeves. He debated in his head on whether or not to tell Lucy about what he'd found out about Alex and who he really is.

"Desmond? What's wrong?" She tugged at his sleeve and watched him with a concerned face. Desmond pursed his lips and stared back at her before speaking.

"Lucy? Promise me something really quick." She slowly let go of his sleeve and nodded. He sighed and shook his head. "Be careful around the Mercer kids, okay? I don't really trust them..."

"What...? But why-"

"Especially Alex."

"But Des-"

"Promise me." Lucy watched his eyes for a moment, as he watched hers, waiting for a response from one another. Lucy was the first to speak after a while.

"May I ask for a reason...?" Desmond gave her an apologetic look before ruffling her hair. "Hey! Des!" She swiped away his hand and pouted as she rearranged her hair.

"Just stay safe, okay?"

* * *

><p>They chatted for a little while more before Lucy ended up going back to her dorm room to get her bag before class started, and Desmond decided to do the same. They parted from the cafeteria, promising to meet each other in their next shared class.<p>

Desmond slowly made his way back to the Boy's Dormitory and savored the cool morning air. He walked through the empty archways outside of the school buildings, listening to the echoes his footsteps made against the smooth concrete ground. His earbuds were mushed inside his ears and light jazz was emitted from them. Behind him he could hear light, quick steps hurriedly making their way toward him. Instinctively, he maneuvered out of the way and walked off the middle of the path. He was suddenly jerked back by his sleeve and was forcibly spun around. Irritated, he pulled out his earbuds and growled.

"Seriously, what the fuck was that for?" When he was faced with bright ice blue eyes, his senses were shocked cold at first, but relaxed he realized who it was.

"S-sorry..." Dana let go of his sleeve and moved away, gripping her arm. She avoided eye contact with Desmond and stared off at the ground with an uneasy expression. Desmond inwardly cursed at himself. _Shit,_ he thought. _That's the second time this morning I've scared someone..._ His eyes scanned over the younger Mercer sibling before shaking his head. _Whatever. I don't feel like playing nice anyway_. As always, Lucy was an exception to his sour behavior.

"What," his voice came out harsher and more monotone than he expected it to be. She visibly jumped as he slipped his hands in his pockets, waiting for an answer. He didn't glare at her; he had no reason to. Glaring insinuated that he'd hated her. And while he didn't exactly trust her or her brother, it didn't mean he hated Dana's guts. She tugged at the hem of her zipped jacket, uneasy with the heavy atmosphere. Moments passed before she finally squeaked out an answer.

"It's about my brother..."

Desmond spun around and started walking away from her, back in the direction he was headed in the beginning.

"Wait!" She grabbed at his sleeves again, stopping him in his tracks. "If you think he's bad or some kind of freak monster..." she released his sleeve. "...Then I won't stop you from thinking that way." Desmond stood with his back against her. "Almost everyone who knows about Alex thinks that way about him, so it won't matter in the end."

_Then why are you still trying to talk to me? _Desmond growled impatiently in his head.

"But at least...at least judge who he is after you hear his story." Silence passed between them before Desmond turned to face her and let out an irritated sigh.

"And why should I listen to it?" Dana's eyes darted to the side for a second, unsure with how to answer. She lowered her chin closer to her chest before looking back up at the young man.

"No one's forcing you to..."

* * *

><p>He tapped his pencil against his desk from the beginning to the end of class, all while at the same time bouncing his leg. He didn't know why he felt so peeved, but he just did. It was only a few hours ago when he talked to Dana this morning, and the way the conversation ended has been poking at his mind ever since then. He stole glances at the ticking clock at the front of the class, and glances at the empty desk beside him.<p>

Alex had been absent from all of their shared classes. Desmond hadn't even seen him during Break or Lunch, nor Dana. _Guess they're off playing hooky, _Desmond thought to himself. _You'd think it would be impossible for students to skip class if they're in a boarding school..._ As the teacher's voice droned on at the front of the class, Desmond allowed his mind to wander off elsewhere.

_"No one's forcing you to listen to my brother's story...like I said, most people just write him off as a monster and avoid him the rest of their lives. Call me crazy, but I feel like you're not that kind of person. You don't seem like the kind of guy to just judge right off the bat. So, if you want, come talk to me afterschool. I'll tell you about Alex." Desmond furrowed his eyebrows at the short-haired girl._

_ "What makes you think I'm nice enough to second guess him? And why are you coming to me about this? What do you care?" Dana shrugged in response._

_ "Like I said, I'm only going off of my limited knowledge of you, but I feel like you're not that kind of person. It's just how I feel." She slipped out a smirk-a characteristic that the siblings seem to share. "And I care because Alex is my brother, my _family_. That's more than enough to be a reason, right? Besides...he needs more friends in his life." _

Desmond grumbled in his seat as he slouched back against his chair. _So she thinks I'm his "friend," _he thought to himself. _I barely even know the kid. I barely even had a proper conversation with him, let alone know him! Shit, under normal circumstances it would've probably went like: "Hey my name's Desmond." "Hey my name is Alex." "I'll be showing you around school! Feel free to ask any questions about homework and you're more than welcome to come hang out with me and my friends at lunch." "Hey cool, thanks bro." But noooo the kid had to end up being borderline sociopath and a danger to us all in the school. Yeah great thinking, Ezio. _

Desmond knocked his forehead against his desk and groaned inside his head. _Great, now I'm having made-up conversations with him inside my head, _he thought tiredly. He brought his forehead up and rested his chin against his hard desk as he stared at the ticking clock before him.

_Get me out of here already._

* * *

><p>Two long hours later, the students were released from their classes, and not long after did Desmond's cell phone ring. The screen notified that he'd gotten a text message from an unknown number. Suspicious, he unlocked his phone, and upon reading the text, he found out it was Dana. Apparently Rebecca had given her his number along with Shaun and Lucy's just yesterday.<p>

_ "Hey Desmond, it's Dana. Don't freak on how I got your number, okay? Rebecca gave it to me the other day. Anyway, come down to the Junior Field Gazebo and we'll talk there if you still want to. I'll see you until then."_

The school grounds were split into thirds for each of the buildings. From the front gate of the school, the West Wing associates with Senior Field. Within Senior Field, is the Boys Dormitory building and the tall willow tree Desmond always passed by every day. Further behind the willow is the school pond. The middle of the school associates with the Freshman and Sophomore Courtyard. The Courtyard is covered with a white tile mesh path up which lead up to the front entrance stairs for the school. In the center of the courtyard was a white marble fountain with the a large clock at the top of it that could be seen from all four sides. The East Wing of the academy associates with Junior Field. The Junior Field holds the Girls Dormitory building and a tall white Gazebo between the academy and the dorm. Surrounding the Gazebo is the school garden filled with various flowers and trees. At the very back of the school is the Sport's Field, which holds the Gym Building, Pool House, Baseball Field, Tennis/Basketball Courts, Track, and Football Turf.

Desmond sighed as he clicked the lock button for his phone and slipped it back in his pocket. Dana was right, for one thing. Travelling from his hometown to New York widened his perspective of others a bit, learning he could find gold-hearted people in places he'd never expect. Those kind of people had come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and personalities, lending him a helping hand when he had initially thought they would do otherwise. He'd met a homeless man who liked to go by the name "Jim" once when he passed by a burger joint in Illinois. Jim was sitting just outside of the property, wearing a run-down red flannel shirt and worn out olive drab cargo pants. He had a grizzly look going on with his spotted brown and white haired stubble and frizzled hair that scared away most of the women and children, and earned cold shoulders from the men. Acting on instinct, Desmond went inside the property and, with what little money he had, bought some lunch for him and the man. Initially Jim didn't bother to say a word when he hesitantly took the burger, but once the two were finished with their lunch, Jim had opened up and told his entire back story to Desmond, and Desmond told Jim...part of his (Jim didn't need to know that on top of the fact that he was running away from home to follow the girl he cared about, he was also being tracked down by a handful of trained assassin recruits). By the end of the day, Desmond had shared a conversation with a man whom he'd found ridiculously wise despite his appearance.

As Desmond made his way through the East Wing, he couldn't help but get more and more skittish as he kept walking. Why was he walking so quickly? If he wanted to, he could take his sweet time. Dana would still be there if he were half an hour late, right? If this was so important to her, he was pretty sure she would wait for as long as it would take. Hell, Desmond could just not go to the gazebo at all and just carry on with his merry life. And yet, his feet still brought him to the school garden in the Junior Field.

When Desmond walked up, Dana was sitting on the bench with her knees up to her neck and she was listening to some loud, up-beat music. She was drumming on the polished wooden circular table in front of her and stared off into space as she nodded her head to the beat of the sounds. Once she noticed she had company, she casually pulled out her earbuds and greeted Desmond as if it were another normal day.

"How were your classes?" She'd asked. Desmond shrugged indifferently and replied with a short "eh." Dana smiled at this and set one foot on the floor of the gazebo. After some silence, she leaned forward on her one knee and wrapped her arms around it.

"Let's see..." she whispered to herself. "Where do we begin..." Desmond slid on the bench and took his seat on the far left of her, leaning back against the walls of the gazebo with his arms crossed. Dana took a breath before she started speaking again.

"Well, first off, I don't know what you've seen what my brother has done or have heard about what he's done, but let me assure you, he wasn't like that in the beginning. He was just like you and me. He sort of still is, but..." she trailed off from her sentence, then sighed. "Anyway, when we were younger, we didn't really have a home. We were foster kids, to be exact. When I'd asked about our parents, Alex just straight out told me our biological mom was in prison. God knows where our biological dad is, or even if he's still alive," she shrugged shook her head. Desmond shifted in his seat and waited quietly for her to continue.

"Anyway, we were poor for a few years, and then, when Alex was about twelve and I was around nine, we were finally adopted," she spoke softly. "They were a small rich couple with a huge house... There weren't any other kids around except me and Alex because our adoptive mother was infertile. The couple...they were honestly gorgeous. The wife was slim and had really pretty wavy blonde hair with a sharp face. She always had the most amazing jewelry... The husband was tall with these dark eyes and had...such an _angry _looking face," she quickly laughed uncomfortably.

"They introduced us to the maids and the driver then basically just left us to do whatever we wanted. They may have adopted us, but the maids more or less took care of us... The maids were all nice. Two middle aged ladies and one older looking one with graying hair. They played with me when I was lonely and respectfully left Alex alone whenever he wanted. I'll have you know, even though Alex is genetically different from us right now, he always was sort of a loner. He stayed in that man's library and workroom for days on end and just kept himself entertained in there. Of course, he'd come play with me when I'd ask but for the most part, he liked to keep to himself.

"The couple was always working, working, working. I can count the number of times they'd actually spend time with me and Alex on one hand. I thought it was okay at first, because you know, they've got a big house, so they gotta make that money to pay for it. After a while, that excuse wore out. They were always going off early to work for meetings, and then coming home late at night, way after our bedtime. Even on their vacation days, they'd work at home, holing themselves up in their basement and just work, work, work... I remember trying to get them out of their basement and asked them to hang out with us but they just flat out said 'no' and closed the door in my face," Dana pulled out a bottle of water and took a sip from it before continuing.

"We didn't go to a public or a private school," she said after clearing her throat. "We were actually home schooled by a hired tutor. Well at least I was. You see, after a few days with the tutor, the couple discovered something about my brother..." Dana looked off at the floor while Desmond stared at her with furrowed brows. Dana smiled to herself. "The guy's a genius."

"What...?" It took Desmond a while to let out his breath. _She can't be serious_, he thought.

"Well you probably haven't paying any attention to him in your classes, but if you have, you would've noticed he doesn't really _do _anything. He doesn't take notes or anything. He doesn't even bother to open up his bag. He kind of just slouches there until the classes end." Desmond narrowed his eyes in confusion. Does he really? Desmond couldn't remember a time where he'd seen Alex acting that way in their classes.

"Even if he's presented with something he hasn't seen yet, he'll learn it quickly and memorize it forever. He's just that kind of person," Dana smiled. Desmond sighed as his head bobbed down toward his chest. He was hearing Dana talk about their childhood, okay, but how does this convince him that Alex is a good person? He shook his head but didn't bother to make a remark.

"Our adoptive parents found out about Alex and his intelligence, and a little while later they found out that my brother had an interest for the sciences," Dana shrugged and crossed her legs atop her seat. She looked down at her shoes as she spoke. "Yep. The couple worked as genetic scientists...PhDs and everything. Can you see where I'm going with this?" She slowly looked up at Desmond to get some kind of affirmation. When she received no such thing, she merely continued on with her story.

"They started taking him downstairs into their basement lab and taught him all this stuff that I had no clue about. And since Alex wasn't exactly as rowdy as I was when I was a kid, they knew he wouldn't mess around and break things. I've never actually seen how he acts in the lab, but my guess is that he just only spoke when he needed to clarify things and only participated when he was told to. Other than that, he probably made sure he wasn't a bother," she shrugged. "I didn't really mind that they took an interest in him. I'd already made friends with the maids."

"Fast forward three years, and the couple became associated with a special project at work. And since Alex was more or less professional about what he did already, he was more than welcome to participate in the project. Something called '_Blacklight_,'" Dana took in a deep breath and carefully spoke her next words. "The project was meant to create a biological weapon for Blackwatch to use against foreign powers... _Blacklight_ is a type of virus that, when released into the air, can infect its victim and recreate and distort the victim's cellular makeup. They end up becoming these _inhumane mutants_," Dana spat out these words as if she were being pushed down by pressure. Desmond's eyes widened.

"There's _no _fucking way that's true. None of it!"

"You haven't heard anything yet. This is all still the beginning of it all," Dana spoke with a heavy sigh. Desmond clenched his fists under the table.

"If this is supposed to convince me that your brother isn't some kind of terrorist, then you-"

"No! No, it's not like that! Look, he and all of the other people working on the Blacklight Project didn't even _know _they were creating a biological weapon," she said sternly. "Initially they were told that they were studying the virus to help fight against global diseases, like cancer. They didn't know anything!" The heavy air sunk around them in the gazebo as they sat in silence. Desmond slowly unclenched his fists, but didn't bother to lighten his glare. Dana reclined against the back of the bench.

"What makes it all worse is that Blackwatch was the one who requested the project..." Dana muttered under her breath. "And then, after polishing and refurbishing the virus, _Blacklight_ became practically deadly and virulent. Would you believe me if I said it was Alex who perfected it?" Dana spoke with a sad smile. "Apparently he had a thing for altering genes...and without him, the project would've taken longer to complete." By now, Desmond remained silent. He spoke nothing, not even in his head as he intently listened to Dana.

"The people who participated in the project naturally became suspicious. What they were creating was the complete _opposite _of what their believed goal was. The animals they were testing the virus on practically killed all of them. Not only that, the government started breathing down their necks, and started keeping watch on Gentek as they constructed _Blacklight_. Then, it got worse.

"The government didn't know Blackwatch was trying to create a biological weapon. And because the team involved with the project we're becoming suspicious of their true goal, BW started to get paranoid of a potential information leak. So what did they do?" Dana gave Desmond a weak smile. Desmond shook his head, partly because he was unsure if his guess was correct, and also because he didn't want to believe it. Dana nodded in silence as she slowly brought up two fingers to her head, mimicking a gun.

"Pshh," she let out a sound as she pretended to shoot her head. "The people involved with the project started dropping out and disappearing, one by one." Desmond's eyes went wide and his mouth hung open, wanting to say something. Anything. But nothing came out.

"The scientists at first were unaware of what was happening and just continued on working despite their suspicions. Alex kept on testing on a few animals and, one of them actually showed a beneficial side effect from the virus. Its strength was increased far beyond than naturally possible. When Alex revealed this breakthrough to our guardians, they were ecstatic. They thought they went far beyond their initial goal. They studied the virus and the test subject with the positive effects for days on end...until it was their turn.

"Blackwatch stormed the house and brought all of us-the maids, the couple, me and Alex-out to the front of yard, on our knees with our hands up. While we waited there, shaking, they ransacked the house and the lab. They brought out all of Alex's research, equipment, and test subjects. When they brought out the positive test subject, they set the cage on the ground and questioned us what it was. After the woman explained the exceptional strength and health of the subject, one of the BW commanding officers got interested... They started asking on whether or not the same positive results would work on a human. Of course, we didn't know because we've never tried.

"Then, with a nod of his head, one of the soldiers grabbed one of the maids and dragged her out in front of us. He dropped a large square case full of vials of _Blacklight_ in front of our so-called 'parents,' and, without so much as hint of sympathy, he ordered them to 'test it right now.' They didn't move at first, but the two scrambled to get syringe ready when the soldier brought his gun up and pointed it at them," Dana shook her head as her voice trembled. "They injected the virus into all three maids after each of them came back with negative results after a few minutes. BW just executed the rejects on the spot and dragged them off to be disposed of as if they didn't even exist a few moments ago... The officer started getting irritated with us, thinking that we lied to him when we said we had a positive subject. That's when our 'parents' started to panic," she clenched her fists.

"They begged several times to give them another chance. The soldier was already angry, and didn't want to listen to them anymore. He started to order the others to take aim when that damned woman sparked an idea. She grabbed my arm and dragged be from the other side of Alex and pinned me under her, telling her fucked up husband to get a needle. The commanding officer hadn't given the signal for fire yet, and just kept his men at ready. I guess he wanted to see the results too...

"They tried to test the virus on me. My supposed guardians tried to sacrifice me to save their own skins. I guess they didn't bother to use Alex because he was more useful in their studies than I was. They still needed him for the project," her voice hitched as she spoke, and Desmond noticed the tears roll down her cheek.

"Alex was _furious_...I don't know what he was thinking," Dana brought her knees up to her chest again and rested her forehead on them. "He-he threw the woman off me and took the syringe himself. He stabbed himself in the arm and injected himself with the virus. It must've been agonizing because...I'd never heard him scream so loud before in my life. The pain must've been unbearable and he collapsed on the ground in front of us," Dana's gasps grew louder with her quiet sobs. "The commanding officer must've thought he was dead, so he stepped up to his body and sent a bullet through brother's head after a few minutes of waiting for him to mutate. I'd just seen my only family left killed right in front of me. I couldn't even let out a sound, let alone a scream. The officer grunted and ordered one of his men to get Alex's body, but when they picked him up and started to haul him off, they immediately dropped him when they noticed his head slowly started to reconstruct itself... They shot a few more bullets into him and watched the bullet holes close each time. We didn't know what happened, but because of it, we lived...

"Now under Blackwatch orders, the fucking woman and her husband were forced to study everything they could about Alex's 'condition.' My brother didn't wake up again until the next day...and our 'parents' and their co-workers were already trying to cut open his body and taking blood samples while I was locked up and stranded in my room... We stayed like that for a year and a half. I didn't know what they were doing to my brother or what was going to happen to me.

"They hired new maids to take care of me. They gave me food in my room and they even renovated a personal bathroom next to my room. Of course I've tried to escape. To run away. But they'd always found a way to drag me back to that house. With or without force... And the police? Tch. They've never even bothered. In fact, they're the ones who'd take me back. I was a prisoner in their home, while my brother was their guinea pig under the Gentek facility," Dana controlled her sobs and tried to stop her tears. She took in deep breaths and Desmond let her do so until she was ready to keep talking. He was going to listen to this until the end.

"And then, I get a visitor late at night. Just out of nowhere, my door swings open...and a man with a hood came in. Something in my heart wished it was Alex who finally broke free from Gentek and came back to get me before running away from this damned city," she laughed inwardly at herself as she shook her head. "Obviously that wasn't the case. Instead it was Malik, you know, the gym teacher and close friend of Chairman Altaïr? God knows why he happened to be my 'knight in shining armor' that night, but regardless I was nearly crying when he'd told me he was getting me out of that house. He merely told me that my brother was waiting for me, and followed him out the house and into his van. I remember seeing the maids knocked out cold on the floor while we just casually made our way downstairs. Now to the public eye, I'd technically just been kidnapped, but to me, I'd been rescued. I didn't even bother to ask any questions in the car, nor did I bother to say anything when I was taken to Chairman Ezio's office that same night. You're probably thinking I was a total idiot at that point in time, but think about it. If you were confined in a home for nearly two years with no social contact whatsoever, would you really care if someone came to take you away?" Desmond shook his head solemnly. Satisfied with his answer, Dana nodded to herself. "I thought so."

"So? What did Ezio have to do with any of this? Just out of the blue, the chairman decided to breakout two siblings hiding in the shadows out of kindness? Even I know that's highly unlikely," Desmond sighed.

"Of course. However, I honestly don't fully know the reason behind it," Dana spoke.

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not. When I stepped into his office that night, I didn't care about anything but my brother. The only thing I'd asked him was where Alex was, and apparently Malik lied to me. Alex was nowhere on campus. At least, not yet. The chairman had told me that breaking Alex out of Gentek was a lot harder than getting me, seeing as how I was only being watched over by a few maids... It took them about a month until Alex was finally dragged out of there. During that time, all they were able to do was sneak in and asses whatever situation he was in and gather info. They'd tried to talk to him, but my brother at the time was pretty...stubborn. To say the least. He didn't remember too much because of the bullet that was sent through his head the day of the raid. He could barely even remember his own little sister when they mentioned my name. In short...he was borderline feral.

"When he finally remembered enough to know who I was, he'd broken himself out, knowing his last family member was still out there."

"He'd broken _himself out?_ How? What the hell, did he just slaughter everyone within a fifteen meter radius?" Desmond exclaimed.

"No! Please, quit expecting the worst from him, alright? He disguised himself."

"He...disguised himself," Desmond let the concept sink in for a while. How mundane for an unnatural person to do.

"Yes. Well, not exactly in the way you're thinking, but yeah. He broke himself out," she repeated and shifted in her seat. "You see, along with supernatural strength and speed, my brother gained a few genetically enhanced..._super powers._" They sat in thick silence. Desmond's expression went from skeptical to bored.

"'Super powers,'" he repeated.

"Yes-"

"You're telling me that your brother is some kind of dark superhero."

"No! Of course not! I don't know about you but 'superhero' is the _last _thing I'd like to use to describe my brother," Dana huffed. "Listen, these _powers _he has...they play with his genetic DNA. He utilizes this thing called Biomass. It serves as his energy source, and the only way to keep him going is if he..._consumes _a living organism. Now I know this is hard to believe bu-" Dana looked up at Desmond's face to see his eyes wide. Dana spoke slowly while maintaining eye contact with the tanned young man. "My brother consumes to regenerate. To heal. But along with healing himself, he can also alter his appearance according to the biological material he consumed. He sees their memories, gains their knowledge, and their energy. And with that energy..." Dana let her sentence fade. Desmond sat in cold fear with his eyes trained on the younger Mercer sibling. His mouth hung open and his hands clawed at his pants.

"..._People_," he'd finally said. Dana cautiously nodded. "Your brother, _eats _ fucking _PEOPLE._" Desmond let out a dangerous whisper.

"He doesn't necessarily 'eat'-"

"Why the fuck are you two even _here_?!" Desmond slammed his hands against the table. "Why not go to fucking China or something?! Why _here _of all damned places! For fucks sake, at least be out of the city! You wanted to get away from Gentek, didn't you?!" Dana's voice stuttered as she replied.

"W-Well it makes sense doesn't it? 'Hide in plain sight?'"

"Oh no, don't give me that crap!" Desmond shouted angrily. "You're the last person I want to hear saying that!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe anything he was hearing. He didn't know what to believe. His fists shook at his sides as he stood before her.

"God, first you tell me that what I know about your brother is a lie," he started.

"Des, plea-"

"But literally _everything_ you've told me so far, points in the direction of your brother being some kind of biological cannibal!" He started to tremble as he spoke his mind. "He _eats people_, Dana! Wake the fuck up already! If you honestly think that man is still your brother...!"

"He is! He's the only family I've got, Des, and I'm all he's got!"

"_What about the people _he's_ consumed?!_" Desmond roared. "What about them? What about their families?! All of a sudden someone important to them just disappears without a trace and you're telling me to just disregard the fact that it's all because of _your brother_?!"

"No, it's not like that! Please-"

"'It's not like that?'" Desmond stared down into ice blue eyes that were beginning to well up. "Then what happens to their bodies when he's done, Dana? Does he just spit them back out and act like nothing happened? Where do you think their bodies go, huh? What do _you _think he does with them?"

"No, that's not..." Dana's voice was barely above a whisper. Desmond shook his head and cursed under his breath.

"He _consumes_ to survive..." Desmond let out a heartless laugh. "So every few weeks someone mysteriously goes missing, and _you're_ trying to defend him." He should his head and took in a breath. "This has got to be the worst joke I've ever heard."

"As if you are any better!" Dana stood from her seat. "You're a goddamn _Assassin_ for Christ's sake! It's not like you've never spilt blood before either!" Desmond gave out another laugh.

"So you _do _know what this school really is."

"Yes, I know, considering how I was rescued by one of you," Dana spat out.

"Well then I'll let you in on a little secret," Desmond leaned on the table closer to her. "I've never killed anyone yet, but at least when I do, I'm not killing for my own personal gain." His cold smile slipped from his face as he straightened his back. He tipped his chin up and glared down at her.

"We may be Assassins, but at least we kill for a reason."

* * *

><p>Dana sat with her clenched fists over her knees. Desmond had already left ten minutes ago without saying another word. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she bit them back, taking in deep breaths. Failing to keep calm, she pulled her knees to her chest and let out her sobs.<p>

"I'm sorry," she let out between hiccups. "I'm so sorry...I only made it worse." Behind her, Alex shifted and stretched his legs. He leaned his back against the outer fence of the gazebo.

"...It could've gone better," he finally said with a hint of disappointment. Not for his sister, but for himself. Dana let out a few more restrained hiccups and apologized again. Alex stuffed his thumbs in his pockets and stared down at his shoes, letting his sister cry behind him.

* * *

><p><em>...To be continued in Chapter XI<em>

Babbles: **Holy shit.**This took forever to write.

I'm really sorry it ended up taking me practically 4 months to update again even though it's during the summer (I'm actually going back to school in less than a week too hueh). Because I took so long I thought you guys deserved a rather long chapter. Now then, some after talk.

I'll admit I could've written Dana's story through a different perspective, like doing a page break and just telling it through her past. But one I thought about that I was already way too far into their conversation to want to go back and rewrite the whole thing. Plus I was desperate to get this out to you guys as soon as possible so... Anyway, since I went through with my initial idea, I ended up writing a chapter that is mostly dialogue. **A++ WRITING SKILLS, I'LL TELL YA H-WAT.** Nah just kidding actually the fact that most of this update is dialogue embarrasses me to no end. I really could've done a better job, so apologies if you're all disappointed with me. v_v

Next topic, Desmond acting like A TOTAL DICKWAD. Now, for the record, I barely ever plan out any of my chapters. Everything kind of just _flows_. And that's probably a terrible way to execute my writing, but still, _flow_. That being said, I really did not plan for Desmond to act this way during the chapter o_o It sort of just...happened. Now, a lot of you are probably freaking out, seeing as how I've quite possibly made Desmond engrave the Mercer Siblings on his permanent Shit List Tablet of Stone, but don't worry! I've got the key ideas sitting in my head of how this is all going to work out, trust me.

Last topic, Ezio's reason. Well now...we'll just have to wait for the next chapter now, won't we?

_Until then, cheers. _

P.S. We're not gonna be seeing any more of Jim. Sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter XI

Thirty-five missed calls, all in one day. Well, not exactly missed—the appropriate term would be ignored. At first they were followed by a few short voice messages, however as the calls continued, they came one after another. With each hit of the End button, another call would be on its way. In the beginning it was only a slight annoyance, but as the calls persisted, added with the foul mood he was already in simply pushed Desmond to his wits end. After switching off his cellphone for the night, he'd hoped he wouldn't be bothered as much the next day. He was safe for about an hour and a half until the rings started to come through his dorm room's landline, and his hopes were slowly shattered as the calls proceeded throughout the night. _Fucking persistent old man_, Desmond growled in his head. Checking the clock on his bedside drawers, the glowing numbers indicated it was just a quarter past midnight. Groaning out loud, he rolled onto his stomach and mushed his pillow over his head. After seven more consecutive rings (he was absently keeping track in his head), he finally sat up and gasped for air before aggressively throwing his pillow against one of the far walls of his room. He quickly made a grab for the phone that was resting upright on its cradle.

"It's FU—" it took every ounce of his strength to restrain himself from releasing his belligerent attitude. Desmond was not one to disrespect authority, nor the average student's need for a good nights sleep. He dropped his tone to mere irritation. "It's freaking twelve in the morning," Desmond ground his teeth.

"Ah good, so you _are _awake!" Chairman Ezio simply replied with his usual upbeat tone. Desmond hissed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Look, whatever you want, can't this just wait until tomorrow? I've had a lot of stuff go on today," Desmond said with fatigue.

"But _Bambino_, it _is _'tomorrow,' isn't it?" Desmond could just imagine the Chairman's stupid jokester smirk across his stubbled face. Desmond glowered and promptly told the Chairman goodnight. "Wait now, Desmond. I understand you are very angry, but please listen," Ezio's voice turned sincere just as Desmond held the phone above its cradle. He brought the phone back to his ear and let out a huff.

"…What is it." The question became a statement through Desmond's monotone voice.

"You realize that the discussion regarding the Mercer siblings is not over, yes?" Desmond gave a tired sigh and nodded to himself. He swung his legs off his bed and sat with his elbows on his knees.

"Yes," Desmond repeated.

"Good! Then you wouldn't mind coming up to my office to continue?" Ezio's innocent smile invaded Desmond's thoughts as he grumbled.

"We're already on the phone, can't we just continue it like this?" Desmond rubbed at his eye and let out a yawn.

"Now now, I know you're not _that _tired, Desmond. You've already had a full night's sleep just yesterday!"

"…You're not exactly making me _want _to keep talking to you, you know." Ezio let out a light-hearted laugh, making Desmond scowl.

"In all seriousness _Bambino_," Ezio said through his chuckles, "a conversation regarding those two is best done face to face." Desmond slowly exhaled and eyed at the deep red wood flooring of his dorm.

"Right now?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"I would very much appreciate it, yes," Ezio replied. Desmond rubbed the back of his neck and before muttering a word of defeat.

"Okay," he said simply. He pressed the phone's End button and retired the phone back to its cradle at his bedside.

Slowly but surely, Desmond got himself dressed in a simple black v-neck long sleeve and jeans. Tying his shoes, he quietly made his way outside the boy's dorm. The night was surprisingly not as chilly as he'd expected it to be, and he allowed himself to pull his sleeves just below his elbows. The cool air wasn't even biting his nose or giving him goose bumps—it was more of a relaxing and inviting chill. Almost similar to the fresh chill of the mornings just before sunrise. Desmond's irate nerves had calmed down just as he entered the main building of the school.

The school office was practically barren, yet the lights were still all on. It was strange, he was used to hearing the bustling of students and rustling of papers when he'd past through the office to get to the Chairman. Opening the doors, Desmond found Ezio sitting in his dark office squinting through his glasses and sorting through various papers under the glow of his lamp light that sat on his desk. Ezio greeted the young man with a rather off-putting smile, making Desmond rather wary of his surroundings. The Chairman pushed all his papers off to the side in a messy pile and clasped his hands in front of him.

"You know you're kind of wasting money out there, right? And you sitting like this in the dark is kind of creepy," Desmond thought out loud.

"Please, why don't you turn on the lights and have a seat?" Ezio gestured to the plush seats in front of him. Desmond carefully flipped on the three light switches next to the door way. As the room was suddenly filled with a gentle light, two figures standing near the draped windows behind the Chairman caught his eye. The taller one with arms crossed over their chest and head tilted down slightly, and the other with their hands behind their back, resting on the window sill while leaning forward. Desmond immediately slammed the lights off and made his way back out into the main office.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he spoke under his breath as Ezio called after him. He was just past the Nurse's Office and into the small hallway that connected to the rest of the school when he felt a cool but firm grip at his wrist. Reflexively, he tried to yank his arm free, but the hand was still clamped down onto him. Desmond slowly turned back to face Alex before trying a second time to pull his arm free.

"Let. Go. Of. Me," Desmond emphasized each word carefully. He pulled again, only to have Alex jerk his arm back, making the young assassin's stumble a bit. Looking up and straight into his icy blue eyes, Desmond glared right at the pale man, whose face was only a few inches away. Alex brought their hands up just enough to be seen through their peripherals and tilted his head slightly. His fierce gaze made Desmond falter and look off to the side. Alex's voice was just above a whisper when he spoke.

"Not this time."

Dana quickly rounded the corner with a concerned expression.

"Desmond, wait. Please just come and listen to what the Chairman has to say. I also want to know why he's letting me and Alex stay here too so please just…" She came up from behind her brother and stood at his side. "Just tolerate our existence for a little while longer, okay?"

The words hit Desmond like bricks. Slowly his eyebrows drew together in disbelief and remorse. It didn't occur to him once that his actions would lead to the younger Mercer to believing that he'd actually despise their existence. Unclouded by his anger, he noticed the pain Dana had in her face and softened. He had no problems with her. No, she fit in perfectly with his group of friends and was practically a natural. Funny, smart, sweet, and caring—there was no way Desmond could possibly hate her. He suddenly remembered their meeting just after school a few hours earlier and felt even more guilty for giving her the impression. He had no right directing his frustrations at her.

"Dana I… I would never—" The words caught in his throat as he glanced at both of them. Dana still held and apologetic look, while Alex kept his usual unreadable gaze. Alex loosened his grip as he noticed Desmond relaxing his arm. He let his arm fall to his side, as did Alex. Desmond sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry," he said as he looked back up at Dana. He decided he would listen to the Chairman's explanation after all, believing that he had owed Dana that much. The siblings eyed him as he walked past them back to Ezio's office. Dana caught up to Desmond's side and Alex lingered behind them.

"I promise there's not going to be any sob stories or any excuses or anything, I trust the Chairman has a logical reason and he's already got everything planned and—" Desmond cut her off as he gripped the handle of the door.

"Dana."

"Y-yeah?"

"It's fine," he glanced down at her, and was able to catch slight drop of her shoulders as she exhaled in relief. He pushed through the doors and stepped back into the Chairman's office. Ezio held up his open hands with a smile.

"Ah, welcome back, _mio Bambino_," Ezio said naturally. "Feeling better?" Desmond chose not to respond and quietly took his seat in one of the chairs. Dana hurriedly occupied the second one and sat rigidly with anticipation. The door quietly shut behind them, and Alex merely leaned back against the door with his arms over his chest. "Now we can finally start," Ezio clasped his hands in front of him once more. "Firstly, do you have any specific questions you'd like me to address, Desmond?" Desmond leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. It took a few moments of silence before he could settle on the right thing to ask.

"Just…why?" Ezio merely gave another smile. "Like, not even 'why are they here,' just…why? What made you want to bring them here? You didn't even know them," Desmond asked, genuinely concerned.

"I barely knew you when you arrived at my doorstep," Ezio replied simply.

"Yeah, but that's different. I'm family," Desmond insisted.

"Family I haven't seen since you were a little baby." Desmond eyed the Chairman carefully, wondering what he was trying to get at. Without warning, Ezio's welcoming demeanor disappeared and was replaced with a stern expression. He leaned back into his chair and removed his glasses.

"Rumors surfaced a few years ago; there was talk amongst the people of the higher livings that there was soon to be a cure that would rid the world of all disease," he shook his head and pulled out a cloth to clean his glasses. "Of course, I paid no attention to it. What would be the point of a cure that stops all diseases? We will all die, one way or another." He brought his glasses up to the light and wiped at another inconspicuous dot. Replacing the glasses on his face, he continued. "Suddenly, one by one, the deaths of various people were being reported. Initially, we thought nothing of it. Until the death count rose to the double digits, and we started noticing they were all scientists. Scientists who worked under the same company, and in the same project." Desmond glanced at Dana, remembering parts of her story that matched up to Ezio's.

"How did you hear about this? Blackwatch killed those scientists to prevent the info from ever spilling," Desmond repeated a fragment of Dana's story.

"The Assassin's have ears and eyes everywhere, Desmond," Ezio said with a strange pleasure. The Chairman got up from his seat and walked around to the front of his desk. He leaned back and propped himself up on the tabletop with the palms of his hands.

"After a while, the news feed goes silent about Gentek and their Blackwatch problems, so I assumed the project was fully terminated. Then, suddenly Abstergo began to watch Gentek with great interest. Scientists were constantly entering and exiting the Gentek building. Much of Gentek's projects were suddenly being funded by Abstergo; equipment, computers, security, it was as if Gentek was willingly being invaded by Abstergo. It took a while before I decided to act and have a few of my Assassins infiltrate the Gentek building. The reports that came back were…disturbing, to say the least," Ezio reached behind him and pulled out a couple of papers from the messy pile he pushed off to the side earlier.

"Reports of a _savage_ young man, locked and contained in the deep underground levels of Gentek," he briefly looked at the papers in front of him. "Kept in chains, straitjackets, muzzled, collared, blindfolded…" Ezio paused. "That is, when he was calm or asleep." Ezio tossed the papers and let the slap down against the coffee table. A wide picture of Alex was printed on top corner of the first paper, similar to the profile picture of him that Desmond had found inside Gentek. However, this particular photo had Alex with a shaved head.

"Informants identified him as Alexander J. Mercer, a bright young man who had a promising future and a talent with genetic engineering. His biological father was nowhere to be found, and his biological mother was left in prison. His only family was his younger sister, _Signora _Dana." Desmond restrained himself from picking up the files that sat on the table in front of him. Hesitantly, Dana reached over and picked up the top paper. She looked back and eyed her brother who still stood stoically by the door. Taking it as approval, she started reading.

"Gentek began experimenting and testing on more subjects, seldom humans. It wasn't until their second successive subject started showing similar actions as _Signore _Alexander that we grew anxious of their possible motive."

"Which would be…what?" Desmond scooted closer on his seat, close to the edge. The Chairman shook his head.

"Without the confirmation of the Holo-Plate, we do not know for sure if it's true, but it is highly likely that…"

"Likely that what?!" Ezio's eyebrows drew together as a deep frown formed on his face. Through the silence, the thought suddenly clicked in Desmond's head.

"…They want to build an army," his eyes widened as the words suddenly spilled from his lips. He could see Dana look up from the file in her hands and watch their faces out of the corner of his eyes.

"W-what?" The file dropped from her hands and floated down to the ground. "W-why… For what reason? To have hundreds or _thousands _of people suddenly like my brother is—"

"The Assassins," Ezio cut her off with a loud tone. "and Templars have been at war with each other for many, many years, dating as far back as the First Crusade. Suddenly having the opportunity to obtain enough power to completely eradicate the Assassin Brotherhood? I would not put it past Abstergo to utilize it…" He rubbed at his jaw.

"And you think the Holo-Plate will confirm this theory?" Desmond spoke up.

"It may or may not. But the chances are likely. It may even contain lists of previous subjects, or secret subjects that have been cultivated right under our noses." Ezio shook his head. After a brief pause, he continued his story.

"And so, we acted. We began planning the…abduction of Alexander Mercer. Of course, you question why we simply could not end his life, yes? Well, on matters I simply don't understand myself, Alexander does not die like we do. He can't. He already is."

The words echoed in Desmond's skull._ Dead. Dead. Dead. He's already dead. He can't die. Alexander Mercer is already dead_. _Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. _They faintly continued to echo as the Chairman pressed on.

"Therefore, we decided to hide him ourselves. We had hoped that him suddenly disappearing from their studies would temporarily halt their work. It had, for a while. The added effort of Blackwatch helped as well. Blackwatch had suddenly terminated all of their research and test subjects, those with negative effects as well as those with similar but not all of the abilities Alexander has. The remains were tossed into a furnace, or so I've heard.

"Not half a month later, Gentek was back experimenting on human subjects again," Ezio shook his head. "What made Blackwatch suddenly allow them to continue testing, I do not know."

"But, how do they plan on controlling an army of…_him_?" Desmond asked, with lack of a better word that possibly wouldn't be an insult. Ezio let out a short chuckle.

"That again, I do not know, _mio Bambino_." Desmond furrowed his eyebrows, confused with why the Chairman suddenly felt light-hearted.

"But what I _do _know and now you three know, is that _Signore _Alexander Mercer is under the protection of the Assassins. And _you_,Desmond," the Chairman stared into the younger assassin's eyes. "are to keep him _safe_."

* * *

><p><em>Dead, dead, dead. <em>The words continued. _Dead, dead, dead, safe, safe, dead, dead. _They continued at the trio walked out of the school's main building. _Keep him safe, safe, safe, keeps safe, dead, safe, dead, dead, safe. _ He repeated to words in his head until they didn't even sound like words anymore. _Dead, dead, dead, safe, dead, dead, safe, safe, safe, safe dead dead dead dead, safe dead dead dead deadeadeadeadeadeadeadeadeadeadeadeadea—_

"Desmond!" Dana's voice broke him out of his trance. "I'm gonna get going to the Girl's Dorm now…"

"O-oh. Um, okay," he said embarrassed. Dana gave him a small smile.

"Thank you for sticking around and listening to what the Chairman had to say. I'm probably over-stepping my boundaries but you don't seem…as angry…at us?" She raised her eyebrows to match her smile. "Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow then. Or, I guess in a few hours." With that, she waved back at them and took off walking in the opposite direction. Desmond sighed and rubbed at his eyes as he watched her go. He looked back at the hooded young man to see him watching his sister go off as well. Desmond casually let out a yawn.

"Well?" He spoke out loud. Alex's gaze lingered on his sister until she past the corner of the building before turning his head to Desmond. "Let's get going," Desmond jerked a thumb in the direction of the Boy's Dorm. He started to walk back until he noticed that there weren't footsteps following him. He looked back to see Alex still standing there, and in the dark night, he couldn't make out his face under his hood.

"Are you coming or what?" Desmond spoke, slightly cranky. Still the young hooded man did not move. "Seriously, would you just…" Desmond quickly walked back towards him. He raised his hand and promptly pulled down the hood that was always over the pale man's face. Completely dumbfounded, Alex's narrow blue eyes widened and almost took a step back from the frowning assassin in front of him.

"It's hard enough to see your face in the dark, so don't be wearing a hood and staring at me like a creep. It freaks me out," Desmond complained. Within seconds, Desmond's annoyed expression morphed and he forced himself not to smile. He dropped his gaze and looked the other way. Still confused, Alex warily spoke up.

"What's so funny?" Desmond shook his head and pursed his lips, restraining his laughter.

"Nothing, it's just…" A small smile forced it's way on his mouth. "Never would've thought you're the kind of guy who could rock a bed-head." Alex's eyebrow came together on his pale face as he slowly ran his hand over his hair. Desmond covered his mouth to keep his laughter from spilling out.

"C'mon, let's just… Let's just go. Just keep your hood and hair like that," Desmond shoved his hands in his pockets and gave him a smirk. "I'm getting tired as hell so let's get going already." The young assassin turned his back and started walking back in the direction of the Boy's Dormitory. Still a bit confused, Alex hesitated to follow, but started following after Desmond soon after. As he caught up to him, he was somewhat relieved the young man was starting to feel a bit more comfortable. It wasn't until he noticed the slight quiver of the young assassin's shoulders and hands that were hidden in his pockets that Alex's relief faded.

_He's still afraid of me…_

* * *

><p><em>...To be continued in Chapter XII<em>

**Babbles**: -gasps-

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE.

You know what I just realized? I literally just took a one year hiatus. And you know what I was doing during that unintentional hiatus? HahahaStrugglingWithMyLastYearOfHighSchoolYep. But now I'm back, and college starts in about a month for me and good god I am so not prepared. ;_;

_Regarding_ the fic though, right after I post this one I'm going to start on writing the next chapter so I can hopefully get a queue of chapters and start updating professionally LikeI'veAlwaysPromisedI'dDo. Although I am ashamed to admit I was also kind of working on two other fics on the side, one of which being a Devil May Cry and Bayonetta crossover. Though who knows if that'll ever see the light of day cause wow I'm so unoriginal. orz

A few facts today: the last chapter was quite literally 16 pages long in Word, with the format of 1.5 lines and Calibri font size 11, and had 7 thousand words in itself ;v; This chapter is 9 pages with 3 thousand words with the same format. I was a little worried I was going to try and push this chapter even further because of the ridiculously long time I took to update but haha I don't think I can do that. Plus 16 pages is kind of pushing it, don't you think? I imagine it must've been a very tiring read ^^;;

ANYWAY (a.k.a. the universal word of me saying it's time to wrap this up), hooray for Desmond starting to open up to Alex! I was a little worried coming back to this cause I might've started writing and ultimately have created a few plot holes or continuity errors but I'm trying to fight thought it and hopefully it makes sense to you guys. If not then I will gladly rewrite it so that it starts making more sense ^^;;

Thank you all for patiently waiting!

_Until next time, cheers!_

_Edit: Let's make the next update be scheduled on... -drumroll- **AUGUST 20TH!**_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter XII

Alex sat on his bed with his back against the wall and his feet barely hanging off the sides. He stared off into space, trying to waste the rest of the night away. Pursing his lips, he constantly thought back to just a few hours ago when he and Desmond were just leaving the main school building. Running his hand through his messy hair for possibly the seventh time that night, his mind was brought back to the thought of the young assassin's smile that fought to make its on his face. He thought of him abruptly walking over just to pull his hood down, an action that nearly made Alex run up the walls (literally). _He actually…touched me… _Alex sat through his musings with a small grin on his face.

* * *

><p>A week had passed since the last time Desmond had heard anything about the Holo-Plate. He never bothered to ask Rebecca on her progress, trusting that she would get the job done sooner or later. However, his curiosity was starting to get the best of him. By the end of the eighth day, his phone suddenly went off and received texts from said young lady.<p>

"Hey Des, u think u can meet up Saturday in Chairman Ezio's office? It's got something to do with the Holo-Plate." Desmond hurriedly texted back his response.

"What's up? Did you manage to crack it open?" He stared at his phone, anticipating her reply. With a short beep and vibrate, he viewed the next message.

"Not rly. I've run into a few problems. Ur gonna hafta come tomorrow to see what I mean." A sharp clearing of the throat distracted Desmond from typing up his reply. His English teacher, giving a stern glare, turned her nose up high before addressing him.

"What's so important for you to be texting during my class, Mr. Miles?" Desmond could feel his cheeks tint red from being caught. He gave her a sheepish grin before turning apologetic.

"Sorry Ms. Gavino," he spoke with a timid voice.

"I'll give you a warning this time," she said, shaking her head. "Now put the phone away." Desmond promptly dropped his phone into his open pack beside his desk and folded his arms above his desk. She continued on her boring lecture about Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and how it compared to George Orwell's 1984.

The class ended shortly after ten minutes, which allowed Desmond to stretch in his seat as the other students of his class packed their belongings.

"Mr. Miles, to my desk, please," he heard his teacher calling. He let out a sigh and trudged up to her cluttered desk, which had students papers and various essays piled high on top of each other. He remember questioning why it always took her so long to grade essays after a few weeks of starting school, and assumed this was the reason.

"I hope you're not going to make a habit of texting during my classes, Mr. Miles," she said with her upturned nose again. Desmond shook his head with a plastic smile.

"Of course not ma'am," he lied. He'd already been having a few conversations with Shaun and Rebecca during her classes, some of which voicing his complaints about how jarring her voice could be when talking.

"Good. The next time I catch you however, I am taking your phone straight to the Chairman. And if you do it the third time, I'll dance the Tarantella on it," she said with a flare of her pointy nose.

"M-ma'am?"

"You know what they say, Mr. Miles. 'What happens once may never happen again. But what happens twice will certainly happen a third time." Desmond brought his brows together in pure confusion.

"I…see…" he replied slowly. She waved him off with an angular and rather prune-like hand. Slinging his back pack over his shoulder, he gratefully exited the classroom with his notebooks in hand. Taking a few steps upon the white tiles of the school hallway, he suddenly heard a sharp zip! from behind him. His hand reached over his shoulder and patted down on his pack.

"It was open," Alex popped up from beside him, startling the young assassin a bit. Alex stood with an amused face, which for the record, was hard to see again under his hood. He readjusted his messenger bag that was resting on his right shoulder.

"Oh thanks, Desmond replied. He turned around with a raised eyebrow, looking at the door of his last class. "Were you just waiting for me?" He pointed his thumb at their English class behind them. Alex stared straight ahead and kept walking beside him.

"Yeah, why?" He asked casually with his hands in his jean pockets. Desmond rubbed the back of his head and crossed his arms.

"Well, you didn't really have to," the younger assassin pursed his lips. "I mean we have lunch next so you could've just gone without me." The hooded young man simply gave a shrug and didn't respond. Desmond let out a short _hm_ before dropping the matter.

Besides worrying about the Holo-Plate, over the uneventful week Desmond was able to slowly but surely become more comfortable around the older Mercer sibling. Most of the time he felt like he was having one-sided conversations with himself, but got used to it after a while. He was starting to get the hang of assuming what Alex had on his mind, just as the younger Mercer sibling was able to do with him. Sooner or later he just started asking Alex simple questions and assumed the answers himself. The younger assassin would ask if he was hungry, and if he received a shrug as an answer, he would assume yes. If Alex seemed uninterested but still listening, he would assume no. He still had quite a bit of trouble discerning a few of Alex's gestures as positive or negative, and opted to ask Dana for some help one day.

They were well on their way to the cafeteria, walking past various students who mingled near their lockers in the halls. Some ate their food sitting on the ground, and some had the nerve to walk excruciatingly slow while talking in front of the duo. Desmond let out an irritated huff; he wasn't really in a hurry, but he hated it when his walking speed was drastically dropped so that he'd have to take one step every five seconds. He expected Alex to be having the same issue of impatience next to him, but he was surprised to see the young pale man was quietly going along with it. Desmond grumbled to himself, tempted to just lightly push everyone out the way and split the group in front of him right down the middle. The hallway suddenly got a bit more crowded as they neared the cafeteria as students were coming in with empty hands and exiting with trays of today's lunch. Desmond had always hated it when his English class was before lunch because it was the farthest away from the lunch area, meaning by the time he'd get there, the whole school would be in line trying to get food. Despite there being two pairs of double doors to the cafeteria, trying to get in and out was always a hassle. Desmond leaned over to Alex as they were slowly shifting forward in the giant group.

"Do you wanna just wait on the sides first and let the crowd die out?" The hooded young man nodded in agreement. Swiftly and carefully, Desmond maneuvered through the crowd with ease, weaving through the various bodies of students. He motioned after Alex to follow him after every few steps he took until they were able to reach the open area beside the crowded line entering the cafeteria. Stumbling as his foot caught someone else's, Desmond leaned against the deep off-white and maroon striped walls. Alex shortly after joined him with much less struggle.

" I hate people," Desmond muttered to himself as he caught his breath. Raising an eyebrow, Alex gave a subtle smirk under his hood. _And I thought _I _was the so-called sociopath._ As he waited for Desmond to catch his breath, an unfamiliar voice suddenly shouted out from down the hall in their direction.

"Hey Mercer!" Usually, Alex's reflexes were quicker than lightning, but for some reason when the diamond shaped football came spiraling at him, he merely watched it as his collided into his chest with a loud _thump_. The dense pointed end would naturally bruise the sternum of a normal person and probably make them fall back a little, but for Alex this was not the case. The football ricocheted off to the side and nearly hit Desmond smack on the cheek, but angled off slightly and hit the wall just in front of his nose. It bounced awkwardly on the floor before rolling to a stop a few inches away from Alex's feet.

"Jesus christ," Desmond exclaimed after the football rested on the floor. "You alright?" Desmond checked Alex for some kind of confirmation, though after receiving his usual quiet stare, the young assassin assumed he was fine. He looked up to see the white grins of several men in front of them, each wearing a dark red jersey with white stripes at the sides. In the middle stood a beefy young man with a short cropped faux hawk who had the widest grin of them all, with what Desmond could only describe as a shark's grin. Throwing his open hands up, he yelled back at the group of jocks.

"Hey, what the hell, Lyam! You aren't supposed to throw stuff in halls, people get hurt that way!" Lyam's face changed from one with superior amusement to feigned surprise and worry.

"Oh…oh I'm sorry," he apologized to Desmond before turning to Alex, "I'm sorry Mercer, did I hurt your titty?" His expression reverted back to his shark grin as he shared a laugh with his surrounding friends. Growling, Desmond turned back to the pale young man who still showed no expression on his face as he stared back at the group of jocks.

"Hey," he called out, trying to get Alex's attention. "Just ignore him. He's just trying to get a reaction out of us." Alex showed no signs of listening to Desmond, as he just continued staring at them under his hood. "Hey," Desmond called out again. "Are you okay?" Alex kept his eyes on the group before slowly turning back to face him.

"I just don't get what's so funny. He's been calling out to me and tossing his football at me this whole week, and then laughing right after. I don't get it," said Alex genuinely puzzled. It occurred to Desmond right then that Alex possibly had no experience with bullies, since most of his life was spent either stuck at home with Dana and a tutor, or in the confined walls of Gentek. He may have experienced agonizing pain beyond Desmond's imagination, but being bullied was probably something that had never crossed his mind. Desmond quickly tried to pull up an explanation.

"They're just bullies. They like to step all over people, thinking they're all high and mighty," Desmond summarized.

"I thought you were all under the Brotherhood and worked together," Alex said just above a whisper.

"Shh! Only a handful of the students attending the Academy actually know about the Brotherhood. Lyam is just another spoiled rich kid whose parents wanted him to go to a high reputation school. He knows nothing," Desmond waved a hand in mid-air, symbolizing him brushing away any of Alex's assumptions. "Besides, Brotherhood or not, you'll find a prick like him wherever you go." Their conversation was interrupted by a brief, high pitched whistle, coming from the same direction the flying football came from.

"Hey ladies, sorry not sorry to interrupt your little chat but," Lyam called out to them with his booming voice. "I'd like my ball back now." He brought his wide open palm up in front of him with an expectant smile. Desmond was close to just flipping him the bird and telling him to "piss off," but was taken aback when he noticed Alex kneel down and grip the stationary football with his left hand. Alex gestured towards Lyam as if saying "you mean this thing?" Lyam rolled his eyes and gave him sarcastic grin and raised a brow.

"Yes, what other fucking ball is there that I'm talking about, genius? Bring it here!" Lyam kept his hand held as he shouted out his order. Desmond brought his eyes back to Alex, who was still calmly holding the football in his hand. By now, the whole hallway had ceased their independent conversations and had their attention on the scene unfolding before them. Students stopped passing in between them through the halls and accumulated behind Desmond. Students who already previously occupied the current hall spread out across the walls, giving Desmond and Alex a clear view of Lyam and his posse of jerks. Alex eyed the ball for a brief moment before taking a deep breath. His demeanor gradually changed from unreadable to something similar to boredom. He leaned back slightly and lead with his pelvis, casually slipping his right hand into his jean pocket. Desmond's brows furrowed together, then widened his eyes at Alex's next words.

_"How about you bring your lazy ass over here and get it yourself?" _

The surrounding crowd voiced out a blend of gasps and astonished _oohs_. Desmond's jaw nearly hung open and hit the floor after realizing that 1) the usual "Don't Touch Me Or I'll Fucking Murder You" Alexander J. Mercer was purposely causing trouble, and 2) said Alexander J. Mercer was voluntarily speaking _above _a husky whisper. A grin of his own suddenly crept across Desmond's tan face as he spotted the smirk under Alex's hood. He drew his attention back towards Lyam, who's sarcastic smile had fully disappeared and was replaced with bright red anger.

"What did you say to me, Mercer?" Lyam spoke from across the hall. Alex brought his hands up into the air and shrugged.

"What, did I fucking stutter?" He fully extended his left arm towards Lyam. "Get over here and take it from me yourself." Desmond, fully amused with the situation, wished he'd at least had a chair and some popcorn with him at the moment. Lyam still stood his ground with his furious expression, his friends around him sharing a similar albeit baffled one. Alex called out to them, mentioning how tiring it was to keep his arm out for so long and prompting for the bully to hurry up. Possibly baffled himself, Lyam glanced at his friends beside him, unsure whether or not to take the bait. Alex pushed his taunting on.

"Don't tell me you're actually afraid of a skinny pale white kid who always covers his face with a hood." A muffled laugh escaped Desmond and he struggled to keep the rest of it at bay. He wasn't laughing at the fact that Lyam was possibly afraid of Alex, he was laughing because part of what Alex said was a blatant lie. Alex was nowhere near skinny or weak as people believed him to be; Desmond was sure of this because he remembered the day he came back from Gentek and Rebecca comparing him to Superman when he was carrying out all the heavy equipment. He couldn't blame everyone though, Alex rarely ever wore anything other than his hoodie and jacket. Desmond was certain that under his deceiving apparel, Alex was just as strongly built as he was (that is, in his physical appearance. Alex's strength surpassed Desmond's and Lyam's by a long shot.). However, Lyam possibly took Desmond's sudden laughter to heart, believing that the young assassin was mocking him. The jock immediately dropped his heavy duffel bag onto the floor and marched over in Alex's direction. He muttered as briskly made his was over.

"I'm not afraid of some pale freak like you…!" Lyam's wide palm clawed out and slammed right onto the top of the football. Alex's arm stood out like a statue, completely unfazed by Lyam's attempt to snatch the ball right out of his hand. Annoyed, Lyam took hold of the ball with his hand again, only to realize that he couldn't pull it out of the young hooded man's grip. "Give it here, Mercer!" The students in the hall started to whisper amongst themselves, followed by a few giggles.

"I am," Alex shrugged, but his grip was still firmly held around the ball. After a string of curses, Lyam trapped the football between his forearms as if receiving a pass, and struggled worming the ball out of Alex's grip. Frustration showed on the jock's red tinted face, all while Alex kept his single grip on the ball. Lyam's group of friends threw their hands up in confusion, tired of the charade. They called out to him, telling him to just take the ball already. His shoes squeaked against the tiles under his feet as he attempted to pull the ball away by running, but Alex did not budge. Desmond couldn't help but voice his thoughts.

"You know Lyam, this is just really sad," he shook his head at the pitiful sight before him.

"Fuck you, Miles!" Lyam blurted out his reply. Desmond crossed his arms over his chest, fully pleased with how the situation turned out. Without warning, a brief _pop!_ filled the air, and Lyam flew forward on his face in the direction he was trying to run in. The hall roared with laughter as he flipped over onto his bottom and stared at the pale young man standing before him with the now deflated football in his hands.

"Oops. Look what you did," Alex tossed the flop of a ball into the jock's lap. Absolutely livid, the jock screamed after him.

"You motherfucker! You popped my ball!" Alex readjusted his messenger bag as he stood by Desmond's side.

"You were the one who was pulling so hard," he stated matter-of-factly. "besides, it's just a ball. Why don't you ask mommy and daddy to get you a new one?"

"Son of a bitch!" Lyam swiftly hopped to his feet and made out to grab a fist full of Alex's jacket, but was suddenly held back.

"What is going on here?" Malik pressed his right hand under Lyam's collarbone and successfully drew him back.

"C-coach!" Lyam widened his eyes. He searched around him as if he'd find a proper explanation around him. "Coach, this Mercer kid! He taunted and humiliated me in front of everyone! And on top of that," Lyam scooped up the deflated at his feet. "He _popped _my _ball_!" Malik barely took notice of the deformed football in the boy's hands and leered into his grey eyes. He pulled at the collar of his jersey and brought the boy nose-to-nose with him.

"I will _not _tolerate any fights between you and other students, Roth! If I heard you had actually thrown any punches, you would be off the team within seconds! Do I make myself clear?" Lyam quickly barked out a "yes sir" before Malik released him. "And you two," he turned towards Alex and Desmond. "Don't think for a second I won't report you to the Chairman the second hear you causing trouble, understand?" The pair nodded, followed by Desmond's own "yes sir." Malik narrowed his eyes and studied them for a while before turning back to Lyam. He grabbed the football that the jock cradled in his arms and smacked him upside the head with it.

"Move! All of you move! Get on with your lunch!" Lyam ran back towards his group of friends while Malik waved around the deflated football. Alex and Desmond took the opportunity to squeeze through the dispersing crowd and finally make their way into the cafeteria. Laughing as he made his way to his usual lunch table, Desmond called back to Alex behind him.

"God, that was probably the best thing that's ever happened this week!"

"Was he ever like that to you?" Alex questioned.

"Hm? Yeah, a few times when I first came here. People always said he was jealous because I was close to Lucy and was always talking to her."

"Lyam likes Lucy?"

"Well yeah, I mean, who doesn't?" Desmond explained casually with a shrug. Alex pursed his lips, but decided not to continue the subject. "Anyway, Lyam always had it out for me, but I'm not the kind of person to put him in his place, even though I'm pretty sure I could. I just always ignored him. But man, seeing him get all worked up like that has seriously made my week."

The pair made their way towards their usual lunch table, which was surprisingly only occupied by Shaun and Rebecca. They took their seats across the both of them.

"There you are. Where've you been?" Shaun immediately asked once they neared them. Desmond waved him off.

"Ah just ran into some trouble again with that jarhead Lyam. You know the drill," Desmond decided not to go into further detail, and Shaun merely accepted the answer. "So where's Lucy? And Dana too. I haven't seen them during lunch in a while. Is there a project going on?"

"I think so. Lucy said she's been working on something important for a while now, even before she got her arm broken. I just hope she's not working too hard," Rebecca mentioned while popping a green grape into her mouth.

"What about Dana? I haven't seen her lately either." Rebecca shrugged and picked up another grape from her cup of fruits.

"I don't know, I was actually hoping Alex knew anything about it." Shaun, Rebecca, and Desmond simultaneously directed their attention to the older Mercer sibling at that moment, waiting for an answer. Alex exchanged glances with each of them before responding.

"She hasn't said anything to me," he said with a small shake of his head.

"Huh…" Desmond sat forward with his arms crossed on the table and leaned on his elbows. "I wonder if she's sick or something." Alex watched the young tanned man's face for a while with knitted eyebrows. He dropped his gaze and kept it locked on the table top.

* * *

><p>Desmond rubbed his wet hair with a towel as he exited the bathroom in his dorm. Keeping it around his neck and adjusting his pajama pants around his hips, he scooped up his phone from its place from his bedside drawers and plopped down onto his bed. Three missed calls were recorded onto his phone, and as he unlocked it, he expected all of them to be from Ezio. Raising a brow, he realized they were all from Alex instead, all of them came in from when he was still in the shower. He decided to call him back immediately to see what was going on. After the second ring, he picked up.<p>

"Hey Alex, what—"

"Dana." The hoarse whisper of the older Mercer came as a surprise to Desmond.

"What? What about her?" The atmosphere sat heavy around him as he waited for an answer. "Alex what's going on?"

"My sister."

"Yes, what about your sister?" He could hear Alex let out an exhale on the other side of the line.

"She's not here."

* * *

><p>…To be continued in Chapter XIII<p>

**Babbles**: Ah! I think it's safe to say that you guys deserved to have some much needed Des and Alex time (even though they're not exactly doing the _do_ hehe). BUT this was rather fun to write! It's nice to take a small break from the plot and put a little filler in I guess. With all the assassin business and whatnot, it's weird to suddenly remember that this is still a highschool fic. ^^;; As promised, I am writing this just after Chapter XI, and I'm proud to say that this only took me two days to complete c: AlthoughRightNowIt'sLike2InTheMorningSoIShouldReallyGetSomeSleep.

Also, woo for Desmond and Alex becoming closer! I like the think that even though Alex technically stole a kiss from him, Des tends to put that small fact behind him since he now knows that his real job is to protect Alex. One of the things he likes about Alex is even though he always seems like he wants nothing to do with people and their problems, he's actually a pretty good listener when Des talks to him.

ANYWAYS, as Alex and Desmond finally patch up their relationship with each other, it seems like Dana has gone missing! And it looks like Rebecca is having some trouble hacking into the Holo-Plate Aubrey Jacobs had planned to give to Gentek. So how will this all go from here?

I hope you have the patience to stick around and find out!

_Until then, cheers!_

**EDIT: **I JUST MADE IT. POSTED JUST AT 11:59. I KEPT MY PROMISE HAHA.

NEXT UPDATE WILL BE ON _**SEPTEMBER 10TH**_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter XIII

Desmond's blood ran cold.

"What?"

"My sister. She's not here," Alex repeated with a controlled tone. "She's not in her dorm, she wasn't in any of her classes, she isn't anywhere on campus-"

"Whoa whoa, okay maybe your sister just went into town? Maybe some coffee? Went shopping with Rebecca?" Alex's frustration just oozed through the phone's speakers.

"If she was going into the city, she would've told me. If she was going to go hang out with friends, she would've told me. If she was going to the fucking bathroom, she would've fucking told me!" Alex's voice raised in volume with each sentence, his anger about to spill over. Alex struggled not to crush the feeble phone in his hand as he shook all over.

"Alex, you ever think that maybe, just maybe, your sister doesn't have to tell you everything she's doing? I mean she's a big girl now," Desmond reasoned. This was it, he thought. His first task of watching over Alex. His first task of calming him down to keep him from going on a murderous rampage. he had to think fast. Alex let out a sigh of impatience.

"No!" He roared. "If she was going out anywhere she would've let me know. We practically have Gentek breathing down our necks, and if she goes anywhere without me knowing, who knows what the hell might happen to her! She's the only fucking family I have! I don't have anyone else!" Desmond bit at his lower lip, unsure of what to say that would help calm the young man down.

"You have me, okay?!" Desmond blurted out with determination. " As long as I'm still here, you've still got someone!" He exclaimed with a huff. Silence passed before Alex gave him a simple click of his tongue.

"'I have you,' huh..." he repeated quietly.

"You're damn right you do. And I'm not going anywhere," the Assassin promised. "Now where are you?"

"I...I'm at Dana's dorm." Desmond briefly questioned as to how he got into his sister's dorm without proper authorization, but then dismissed the thought. It was Alex. He could basically do whatever he wanted that didn't involve killing anyone.

"Alright I'm coming over. I'll meet you outside," he reached over for a random grey shirt left on top of his dresser. "Don't...!" He added before hanging up "...Do anything 'drastic.'" In any other situation, Alex probably would've laughed. He never did anything drastic, he usually reacts to things appropriately. However, this situation appropriately called for him to go on a killing spree and painting the city red until he found his little sister.

"...Then you better fucking hurry," he growled before promptly hanging up. He tossed the cordless landline phone off to the side, not caring that it hit the wall with a muddled _thud!_Dana's room had pants and bras strewn about, trash that littered the floor, and part of her blanket was pulled off the bed and dragged across the carpet. Alex dismissed the mess as not a struggle, but just regular Dana mess. Her room was always in disarray when they were kids, making the maids constantly pick up after her. She never seemed to grow out of it after all these years.

Her shoes were nowhere in sight, and her cellphone always went immediately to the voice mail. After the tenth or eleventh try, Alex gave up and phoned Desmond instead. Who else was he supposed to call? Rebecca and Shaun? No, they already said that they hadn't seen his sister for a while at lunch. Lucy was an option, but he barely had any contact with her ever since he'd arrive at the academy, let alone know her phone number. The Chairman was a definite "hell no."

Alex was without a doubt grateful to the Chairman for taking him and his sister in to hide away from Gentek, though he had an odd sense that he didn't need to thank the Chairman at all. In fact, he believed his thanks wasn't needed, nor expected. All the Chairman cared about was what Abstergo and Gentek were planning, and what he needed to do in order to prevent those plans from playing out. Saving Alex and Dana was just another attempt to delay Gentek of their studies. Dana may have seen the Chairman as her savior and hero from their childhood hell hole home, but Alex could see past the façade; the Chairman could care less about him and his baby sister.

He went back towards the room's only window that was on the adjacent wall to Dana's bed. Glass sparkled along the floor and over her school issued desk, which again he dismissed as not a struggle. The glass was merely from the broken window he'd climbed in from. He'd debated on just walking up to the dorm like a "normal person" from the entrance, but his last visit to Dana's dorm had attracted him some rather suspicious and cautious glares.

Taking a few steps back, he launched himself through the shattered window, emerging from the fourth story of the building. He landed in the grass, his heels digging heavily into the dirt, leaving deep trenches. He straightened his back and walked off towards Desmond, who'd just rounded the corner in time to see him land. His hand was at his forehead and had knitted brows.

"The stairs...you could've just..." he mumbled before spewing incoherent words.

"Don't forget why you're here," Alex said with more hostility than he'd meant. The young Assassin faltered a bit, then nodded, giving him a short apology.

"Right...you're right, sorry," he dropped his hand from his forehead. "Now, are you _absolutely sure _that your sister is missing and not just off somewhere? She hasn't told you anything?" Alex shook his head, worry washing over his face under his hood.

"No, she hasn't. I would've remembered, and she _definitely _would've told me if she was going somewhere," he said firmly. Desmond held up his hands.

"Alright, alright, your sister tells you everything. I'm sorry I thought otherwise. When was the last time you saw her?"

"The night we went to go listen to the Chairman was the last time I saw her. We both watched her walk back to the Girl's Dorm," Alex replied.

"Well, she either made it back to the dorm and whatever happened to her happened there, or she didn't make it back to her room." Alex shook his head, his voice came out as a low whisper.

"I was just at her room," he murmured. "She didn't make it back."

"You're sure? You didn't ask anyone if they might have seen her in the building that night?"

"She. Didn't. Make. It. Back," Alex repeated fiercely. Desmond took a brief step back, wary of the hooded young man.

"How exactly do you know that?" He asked slowly. Alex growled in frustration before letting out a rough shout into the air.

"Fucking hell Desmond! Just help me find my sister!" His words shook Desmond with uneasiness, but he kept his ground. Desmond threw his hands up in attempt to ease the hooded young man.

"Alright just keep your voice down!" He spoke with a fierce whisper. They stood out in the concrete walkway in front of the Girl's Dormitory in the middle of the quiet night. It wouldn't do them any good if suddenly reports came in about two male students lurking about outside the Girl's Dorm after hours. "Look, we need to go report this to the Chairman. He'll know what to do," Desmond said after taking a deep breath.

"That old man isn't going to do anything," Alex hissed.

"That 'old man' is my family and I trust him enough to know what to do because God knows we fucking don't," Desmond argued back. "He told me to protect you, and if you're going to turn the whole city upside down because of your sister, then that means I have to do it along with you, and let him know about it." Alex let out a low growl and paced back and forth on the walkway. "What, do you have any other ideas? Who else is going to help us?" Desmond's voice threatened to raise in volume, irked with Alex's sudden refusal for extra help. The pale young man growled before turning on his heel towards the main building with Desmond trailing far behind, lightly jogging to match his rapid pace.

"Alex!" The hooded man promptly turned back around and barked out a quick "what." Desmond let out shallow breaths as he caught up to him. His face was scrunched up in worry for the young man, a detail that barely caught Alex's attention. He lightly clapped a hand around the young man's bicep and stared back into his icy eyes.

"We'll find your sister," he whispered with a mix of fierce determination and reassurance. Alex's expression softened by a fraction before dropping his eyes from Desmond's gaze.

* * *

><p>Her wrists were badly marred from yanking roughly on the heavy duty cuffs that were clamped onto her. The chains echoed and reverberated throughout the dim, small concrete room, and her feet felt like lead blocks as they were chained and bound close to the floor. She slumped against the wall across from the steel door entrance and hung her head over her lap. The large square bandage at her forehead itched uncomfortably, but she dared not scratch at it. She wasn't sleep deprived, nor was she being pushed to starvation by her captors. No, she was under no form of physical or psychological torture. For the past few days, all she did was sit, stand, lay, eat and drink in her little lonely room. Occasionally she was brought out to relieve herself in the restrooms, but not without several escorts and a thick black bag over her head. She didn't bother fight back or attempt to run away. She knew the feeling of being caged like a bird all too well, and the fire inside her that always prompted her to escape when she was little had died out a long time ago. She cried silently the first few days after being hit with a cruel sense of déjà vu every time she woke up. The only difference was what led her to be imprisoned, as opposed to what happened before.<p>

Dana remembered the events clearly, and she was aware that they knew she remembered. The cool night air after the small meeting with her brother, Desmond and the Chairman up in his office gave her uncomfortable chills, and she desperately wanted to return to her dorm as soon as possible. Cutting the corner, she nearly bumped foreheads with the ever so charming Lucy Stillman, who for some reason was out of her dorm late at night. Dana promptly gave the blonde an apology before asking if she was okay. After receiving an appropriate answer, she then questioned out loud as to why the blonde was exploring the school grounds during the middle of the night all by her lonesome. Lucy quickly dismissed the question, telling her that she just needed a quick breath of fresh air before going back to the dorm. Dana accepted the answer at the time, but after watching Lucy seemingly scurry off like a skittish mouse, she cautiously followed the Assassin to the far back reaches of the academy. She carefully maneuvered over pebbles and muddied grass, hanging far behind the blonde but just enough to keep her in view. She didn't know what she was expecting, honestly. Maybe a late night escapade with a secret boyfriend, or maybe girlfriend, one she only allowed herself to see in the dead of night, far away from the eyes of the academy. However, when she briefly lost the suspicious blonde past the school's pool house, she decidedly turned around and went back in the direction of the dorm, her low energy and low tolerance of the cold forcing her to admit defeat.

And that's when it happened.

With a quick and sharp blow to the head, she was knocked to the cold ground, blood slowly oozing from her forehead. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the form of a large branch laying next to her on the ground, and a pair of feet just a few inches behind it.

_"Why couldn't you have just gone back to the dorm like I hoped you would…" _Lucy's voice echoed in her ears. She struggled staying awake; trying to muster enough energy to shout for help or get off the ground. But it was as if there was a bag of bricks sitting on her back, knocking all of the air out of her lungs and preventing her from escaping. The blood from her forehead dribbled over her eye as she lay there, unable to move. She could faintly hear Lucy speaking to someone, but couldn't make out full sentences. Each word sounded like it was getting further and further away, until she couldn't hear them anymore.

"Yes… Unfortunately I couldn't get… —dn't know she was… Now sh—... I had to…do what wa— Do you… —ing her? Un— stood. I'll— …soon."

Now, she sat with her aching joints on the unforgiving floor of where she could only guess would be in Gentek. She hadn't seen Lucy ever since their encounter that night, not that she cared. In Dana's eyes, she was already dead to her. Trust was not an easy thing for Dana to give, so when it is forcefully taken from her, she hardly ever bothered to give it back.

She took up an oath after the third morning of her kidnapping, vowing to show no weakness, nor emotion, compelling herself to stay strong until Alex found her. She knew he would find her. It was only a matter of time until he tore this building down from its foundation up and rescue her. Until then, her person would be somber, channeling her inner "sociopath," just like her older brother.

The steel door's latch became undone, but she didn't bother looking up from her lap. Joyful whistling filled the room, the melody of Frank Sinatra's _Fly Me To The Moon_ invading her ears. Heavy boots thudded against the grey concrete floor, and the eerie scraping of a metal chair being dragged across the floor drowned out the pleasant tune. Abruptly, the grating metal across the floor had stopped, along with the whistling. The door slammed shut with the latch locking back into place.

"So," a man's voice spoke up, dragging the "o" in the word out for a while. She heard him take a seat in the chair he brought in, then heard the rustling of papers. "You're Alexander Mercer's baby sister." He added a strange weight to the way he said the last two words. "The only notable family to that ravaging beast better known as ZEUS." Dana clenched her jaw, keeping her bitter retorts in her throat.

"To be honest, I don't know why we haven't kidnapped you earlier. This would've made things so much easier on our part," he continued on talking to himself. "Our little undercover agent kept insisting that we wait for a better opportunity, but hey, looks like one happened to show up on our doorstep. And we didn't really have to do anything, either. So thank you for being so generous to us," he said with feigned sincerity. His words lofted into the air with an odd lilt, as if he were speaking to a young child. Dana kept her head over her lap.

"Now I know this isn't exactly the most exciting and fun thing you've experienced in your life, considering you've already gone through it…" Dana's lip curled slightly. _Asshole…_ she whispered in her head. "But bear with me, it'll get better soon, trust me." Dana couldn't help but click her tongue at the last bit.

"You see, we've been waiting a long time for Alex to come back. It's been pretty lonely, y'know? Everyone's been worried sick about him, even me. He's like a poor child in need of our guidance," the man stood from his chair, the screeching metal legs making Dana grit her teeth. "And we recently decided that we were going to throw a party in celebration of how well Gentek has bounced back in the past decade. Of course, we want Alex to be here to celebrate with us. After all, he hasn't properly met the new member of our family yet," the man spoke sorrowfully. Dana knitted her brows together. Family? New member? What celebration was he talking about?

"We knew he probably wasn't going to accept his invitation, to say the least. However, ever since you arrived at our doorstep, I've had a request in mind for you." Heavy silence weighed down on Dana. When the man didn't continue to elaborate, she warily brought her head up. Her ice blue eyes met the face of a young man, whose skin was just as pale as her brother's. His blond, close to white, hair was pulled back into a small low ponytail, and his spiky fringe fell from his forehead, almost covering his slate grey eyes. A small smile that was as inviting as a pit viper was plastered onto his angular face. He sat with the back of the chair facing her, practically straddling it. His chin was propped up on his fist, and his elbow rested on the chair's back rest. He wore a rather slim fitted white shirt, and faded black cargo pants with dark knee pads. His black boots reached up halfway through his calf, and Dana could make out the a small chain around his neck.

"Hello Ms. Mercer," he spoke with a low, sultry voice that made Dana's skin crawl. "My name is Corporal Rent. But I prefer to go by the name 'HADES.'"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Babbles: <strong>_It seems like things are starting to pick up now.

ehehehehe.

Just like you guys, I'm also excited to see where this goes.

I actually don't have much to say for this chapter, and I think it's better that way.

_Until next time._

_Cheers. _


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